BREAKING NEWS, Media
–
Media Rights Agenda is urging the Cameroonian government to release Simon Ateba, a journalist, who has been detained by its authorities since August 29 over allegations of espionage
A Nigerian Media Rights advocacy group on August 31, condemned the arrest and continued detention of a Nigerian-based journalist, Simon Ateba, by the Cameroonian authorities on allegations of espionage.
A press release signed by Ayo Longe, programme manager, Media Rights Agenda, MRA, called for the immediate and unconditional release of Ateba, a Cameroonian who has worked as a journalist in Nigeria for over a decade.
Ateba, was arrested at about noon on August 29, at the Minawao refugee camp in Cameroon and taken to Makolo, about 12 kilometres away in the far north of the country.
The newsman who was at the camp to report on the conditions of refugees there, was accused of spying for the Islamist insurgent group, Boko Haram.
Ateba, said the authorities have informed him that he would be taken to Yaoundé, the Cameroonian capital, and handed over to the secret police, which would try him for espionage.
His trip to the refugee camp was a part of the Nigerian Investigative Reporting Project, NIRP, an initiative of the International Centre for Investigative Reporting, ICIR.
According to Edetaen Ojo, MRA’s executive director, “By resorting to such tactics, which are becoming increasingly evident in different countries, whereby governments and security agencies level ridiculous charges of espionage and supporting terrorism against journalists who write critical reports or investigate official wrongdoing, the governments are doing themselves a great disservice.
Ojo continued: “The governments must understand that while they may actually be successful in punishing the affected journalists, this ‘success’ comes at a great cost as the governments lose credibility every time they engage in this practice, the ultimate consequence being that they trivialise and undermine any legitimate effort they may be making to combat terrorism.”
He therefore called for the immediate and unconditional release of Ateba, adding that “the Government of Cameroon and its security agencies must allow him to carry out his work unhindered and ensure that they live up to their responsibility to protect him while he is within their territory.
— Sep 1, 2015 @ 17:50 GMT
|
Tags:
