Chairman of the Association of Online Media Practitioners in Nigeria, Wole Arisekola has decried alleged intimidation from security operatives. The
group in a statement in Abuja signed by its chairman said the way
security operatives have continued to clamp down on online journalists
is unacceptable.
In a chat with Pulse, Arisekola
said while professional journalists try to do their legitimate job of
information dissemination, the environment in which they operate is
becoming more hostile as security operatives seem to be getting
overzealous.
In his words, “I think I am not
comfortable now with what is happening in Nigeria with our professional
colleagues, I mean the online journalists. You write something about
someone that is in bad light, that person can take you to court, it is
not a criminal offence but a civil offence but now am so surprised that
DSS, is what the politicians are using to intimidate people."
Speaking further, Arisekola said, 'I
have taken the matter to the Inspector General of Police, we’ve never
had it so bad in Nigeria where people will be taken to police station,
detain there, taken to court, prison, why? When someone writes something
about you and you think it is illegal, it’s a libel case and not a
criminal offence.'
In conclusion Arisekola
lauded the media for not compromising on freedom of speech and
expression even as he lamented the activities of bloggers who flout
copyrights laws.
Source: pulse.ng
