A former spokesman for the Atiku Abubakar 2023 Presidential Campaign, Daniel Bwala, says journalists who are allegedly involved in any crime don’t have immunity and can be arrested by security agents.
He argued that the administration of President Bola Tinubu respects the rights of the Nigerian people including the right to free speech.
The lawyer, who is now a staunch supporter of the President, was a guest on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme on Tuesday.
He said, “I will make bold to say that we are making appreciable progress, with respect to free speech. And I can count nothing less than five prominent critics of this government who are walking freely.
“For those who are arrested, you have to deal with it on a case-by-case basis because even if you are a journalist, if you are involved in a crime, you don’t have immunity. That’s the point. Even if you are a lawyer or a journalist, if you are involved in a crime, you don’t have immunity.”
Investigative journalists have been hounded by the Tinubu administration with security agents arbitrarily arresting and detaining them for weeks, with their family members not knowing their whereabouts till civil society groups and pro-democracy activists raise the alarm.
The cases of Juwon Soyinka, Daniel Ojukwu and Segun Olatunji readily come to mind in the catalogue of journalists who have been picked by state security agents of late.
Civil groups like Amnesty International and the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) have described the Gestapo-styled arrest of journalists by state security agents as an echo from the past, and a prominent feature of the dark years of military rule. They said the ugly development impugned press freedom 25 years after Nigeria transitioned from dictatorial rule to democratic governance.
However, Bwala said journalists who were unlawfully detained should approach the courts to seek redress.
He said, “The other thing is that we have the courts to preserve the rights of the Nigerian people. If you are unlawfully detained or unlawfully arrested, you can approach the court for the enforcement of your fundamental human rights.
“Unless someone comes with a contrary report, I for one believe that under this administration of President Bola Tinubu, the rights of the Nigerian people are protected.”
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