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Nigerian security forces clampdown on newspapers by disrupting their distribution network in the guise of searching for sensitive materials with security implications which could be channelled through distribution vans

|  By Vincent Nzemeke  |  Jun. 23, 2014 @ 01:00 GMT

IT started like a joke on Friday June 6, 2014. At about 10 am in the morning Facebook, twitter and some other social media sites were inundated with unconfirmed reports  that men of the Nigerian military had intercepted some newspaper delivery vans, confiscated the newspapers and prevented them from getting to their destinations.

Since such occurrences are rare in a democratic dispensation, many people dismissed the reports as another rumour aimed at destabilizing the fragile peace in the country. But a few hours later, what started as a rumour turned out to be true. It was the major news on the websites of major newspapers across the country.

The reports confirmed that there were seizures of at least three leading newspapers at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos, while many newspaper distribution vans were stopped and searched in different parts of the country. The reports added that some of the newspapers were torn by fierce looking soldiers while a few of them were also confiscated.

On the website of one of the affected newspapers, it was reported that:  “Soldiers on Friday intercepted and destroyed newspaper copies meant for the North-West region at the Kaduna tollgate. The copies booked for South-South and South-East regions were also seized by the soldiers. According to the newspaper, the soldiers and SSS operatives were said to be acting on ‘orders from above.’

Another Abuja-based newspaper which was also affected wrote on its website that its distribution vans were stopped by “soldiers, who waylaid the vans around the Area 1 Road, commanding the drivers to offload.”

The paper said “the same scenario occurred in Benin/Warri Road, Port Harcourt, Kaduna/Kano Road and Nasarawa/Jos Road,” where its vans were stopped and the newspapers seized.

While the affected newspapers were still counting their losses from the previous day, the military operation resumed in Abuja and some other parts of the country the next day which was a Saturday.

That day, soldiers claiming to be acting on “orders from above”, descended on the newspaper distribution centre in Area 1 Garki, Abuja, and prevented the distributors and vendors from circulating papers in Abuja and environs.

The soldiers stormed the distribution centre in ten trucks, mounted surveillance around the large compound behind the United Nations Building and ordered all the drivers, who came to drop their papers to surrender.

The development forced many media practitioners and civil society members to demand an explanation from the military. Those who spoke about the development said the seizure of newspapers was a clamp down on the freedom of the press and a throwback to the dark days of military dictatorship in the country.

But Maj. Gen Chris Olukolade, director of defence information, said soldiers embarked on a search of vehicles conveying newspapers and newsprints because of an intelligence report which indicated that dangerous materials were being moved through such vans. “Troops this morning embarked on thorough searches of vehicles conveying newspapers and newsprints across board.

“This followed an intelligence report indicating movement of materials with grave security implications across the country using the channel of newsprints related consignments,” he said. Olukolade said the exercise had nothing to do with the content, operations and personnel of media organisations.

“The general public and the affected media organisations in particular are assured that the exercise was a routine security action and should not be misconstrued for any other motive,” he added.

As the soldiers continued with their operations, opposition parties and other critics of the Goodluck Jonathan-led government accused the president of attempting to gag the press.  The All Progressives Congress, the country’s leading opposition party, said Jonathan was fighting a battle he cannot win by attempting to tamper with press freedom.

A statement issued by Lai Mohammed, its interim national publicity secretary,  said Jonathan had failed to learn the lessons of history that the Nigerian media could neither be intimidated nor suppressed by anyone, and that all those who tried to do so in the past lived to regret their actions.

“Had the government pursued the insurgents who are killing and maiming Nigerians with the same vigour with which it had descended on the media, the war against terror would have been long over,” APC said. The party described as “disingenuous and ridiculous” the explanation that an intelligence alert was responsible for the clampdown on the media, and the claim that “the government holds the media in high esteem.

”Even if one believes the administration’s babble that President Jonathan holds the media in high esteem, how can that be justified by the indignities being meted out to the media under his watch? How does the so-called intelligence report justify the arrest of media workers, detention of distribution vans and the impounding of newspapers? How does it justify the restriction of newspaper circulation? How does it justify an administration’s efforts to tamper with the fundamental rights guaranteed by the nation’s constitution?

“President Jonathan gave a hint of what’s to come when he blamed the media for over-reporting Boko Haram, forgetting that the media is only a mirror of the society. Our advice to the President is to immediately call a halt to the war on the media which his administration has launched because it is one battle he cannot and will not win,” it said.

Other than the APC, the Nigerian Labour Congress, NLC, also condemned the actions of the military.  In a statement signed by its President, Abdulwahed Omar, the NLC described the actions of the military as undemocratic and a throwback into the dark days of military dictatorship.

“We strongly believe a free press is very critical in the sustenance of democracy and any obstruction to the operations of any critical organ of our democratic process would be resisted as the recent infringements in the circulation of newspapers portend. In any case foreign media organisations seem to have more access to information on these violent groups, especially Boko Haram, than our security agents.

“The military and other security agencies must restrict themselves to the protection of our sovereignty and go after those threatening this with violent attacks that have almost disappointingly overwhelmed those paid to protect lives and property, despite huge budgetary allocations.

“The security challenges we face must not be politicised and perhaps those in authority must know they are responsible and accountable to all Nigerians no matter what class, dogma, ethnic or political dispositions, and must not see governance with political bias.

“Democracy cannot survive without the media; no democracy anywhere in the world can survive with a circumscribed media. Freedom of and access to information is what builds democracy and we must not allow any of our security agencies or military formations befuddle our collective quest for sustained democratic governance,” the NLC said.

But the presidency has distanced itself from any plot to restrain the freedom of the press but said the clampdown on the print media by soldiers was in order. Doyin Okupe, senior special assistant to the president on public affairs, told reporters in Abuja that “the country’s security is at stake and you cannot neglect security threats because we are living in trying times.”

Okupe said President Goodluck Jonathan had no hand whatsoever in the continuing assault on newspaper outfits because, as he said, “the soldiers’ action runs contrary to the president’s political belief.” The administration, according to Okupe, will neither engage in, nor encourage any acts capable of constituting an assault on any media organisation or infringe on the freedom of the press.

He said that news reports suggesting that President Jonathan might have ordered that the media be suppressed and prevented from carrying out their constitutionally guaranteed responsibilities were untrue

“The military has explained that the checks followed intelligence reports on the possibility of some elements within the society using such vehicles to convey materials with grave security implications across the country”, he said.

Okupe explained that the clampdown was a temporary measure and appealed to the media houses and affected stakeholders to view the action in the light of the security challenges confronting the nation. “If the security of the country is at stake, some segments may have to undergo some discomfort. This is what we have to face because our country is under siege”, Okupe stated.

The presidency spokesperson, however, could not say when the on-going military clampdown on the media would stop, but hinted that the exercise would be relaxed as soon as “there is significant reduction in the level of security alert.”

He stressed that assurances received from the military authorities were that personal liberties of media practitioners or those of their employees would not be unlawfully tampered with in the course of the exercise. “We live in very trying times which may necessitate that some sections or sectors of the society might experience some temporary discomfort in the overall interest of ensuring that the ideals of freedom, peace and security which we all hold dear will not be compromised by a few unscrupulous elements in our midst.

“The media, as the fourth estate of the realm, is held in very high regards by the President and this has been practically demonstrated in various ways by this administration in the last three years. Recall that it was President Goodluck Jonathan who signed the very contentious Freedom of Information Bill into law immediately on assumption of office and has consistently espoused the principles of openness , accountability and liberalism in his relationship with the media at all times.

“While we sympathise with media houses which might have suffered one discomfort or the other as a result of these security checks, we assert, for the avoidance of doubt, that the President has not and will never give any order capable of hampering the smooth running of any media organisation or harass media practitioners in the lawful performance of their duties.

“This government will neither engage in nor encourage any acts that will constitute an assault on any media organisation or infringe on the freedom of the press”, Okupe added.

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