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CPJ, partners write to Nigerian president to demand accountability for attacks on the press

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CPJ, partners write to Nigerian president to demand accountability for attacks on the press

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Bola Ahmed Tinubu
President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria

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Dear President Tinubu,

We, the undersigned Nigerian and international press freedom organizations, write to express alarm over Vice President Kashim Shettima Mustapha’s recent remarks suggesting that no journalists have been harassed in Nigeria since you took office. This mischaracterization conveys a grave indifference to the numerous and well-documented attacks on the press while you have been president, including violent abuses and arrests by Nigerian security forces.

We call for you to hold accountable those responsible for abuses against the media that have taken place during and before your tenure, and to take further action to reform Nigerian laws to ensure journalism is not criminalized. General elections are scheduled for early 2027 and your action to protect the press and Nigerian democracy is essential.

On February 27, a State House press release quoted Vice President Shettima saying to members of the Nigerian Press Council, “For the past three years, have you heard of any harassment of journalists?” He added that your “tolerance threshold is so high.” The press release also said your administration had promoted “an environment that is conducive for journalists to carry out their duties without harassment.”

Since you assumed office as Nigeria’s president in 2023, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has documented Nigerian authorities detaining journalists without warning and mistreating them in custody. Numerous journalists have been arrested and prosecuted over their reporting, including on defamation and cybercrime charges. In August 2024, CPJ documented at least 56 journalists assaulted or harassed by Nigerian security forces or citizens while covering the #EndBadGovernance demonstrations. Masked security forces even fired bullets and tear gas in the direction of 18 working journalists.

Additionally, in 2024, the International Press Centre (IPC) documented 65 cases of attacks on journalists. These attacks varied from physical assault, harassment, threats to life, intimidation, murder, and unlawful and prolonged detentions. 

Media Rights Agenda’s 2025 annual report similarly tracked 86 incidents of attacks on press freedom across Nigeria and the International Press Institute Nigeria has identified a pattern of impunity for such incidents in the country.

The Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID), which tracks media freedom violations, has verified at least 231 attacks on the press since you took office, and in 2024 wrote to your office urging decisive action to stop such incidents. 

Since 1992, CPJ has documented the killing of at least 23 journalists in Nigeria, as well as two others who are missing and presumed dead. At least 13 of these journalists are confirmed to have been killed in connection with their work. One of those journalists is Onifade Emmanuel Pelumi, who was found dead in a mortuary days after he was seen in police custody after being shot while reporting in Ikeja, the Lagos State Capital, in 2020. Over five years later, despite repeated pleadings, Pelumi’s body has yet to be returned to his family.

We have not seen meaningful efforts to end impunity when journalists are targeted, and your government even sought to appeal a court judgment ordering government actions to improve press freedom and the investigation of attacks against the press. Media Rights Agenda filed the case.

Nigeria has elections scheduled for early 2027, and we have documented how such moments of political tension often correspond with spikes in attacks on journalists. This is a pattern that should be addressed with informed government actions, but the Vice President’s recent statements demonstrate a clear failure to recognize and respond to the dangers Nigerian journalists face, including from law enforcement tasked with protecting the public. The remarks are also reminiscent of Nigerian officials’ previous false claims and mischaracterizations about press freedom conditions.

Vice President Shettima referred to your administration as “a friend of the media.” It is time to match those words with action by holding those responsible for attacks to account, returning Pelumi’s body to his family, and ensuring the periods before, during, and after the coming elections are safe for those who report the news.

Sincerely,

Angela Quintal

Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)

Africa Director

Busola Ajibola

Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID)

Deputy Director

Churchill Otieno

The Africa Editors Forum (TAEF)

President

Edetaen Ojo

Media Rights Agenda (MRA)

Executive Director

Lanre Arogundade

International Press Centre (IPC)

Executive Director

Musikilu Mojeed

International Press Institute (IPI) Nigeria

President

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The media freedom delegation with Veran Matic, the chairperson of the management board of the Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM), who is facing open death threats Following a two-day mission to Belgrade on 26-27 March, the partner organisations of the Council of Europe’s Platform for the Safety of Journalists and the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) assessed that the past year had seen a continued deterioration, leaving the country in a prolonged and worsening press freedom crisis. In absence of the recognition by state officials about the severity of the current situation for the safety of journalists, the delegation warns that chances of further escalation in the severity of attacks against journalists remain dangerously high. Multiple reports of journalists being attacked while reporting on the local elections held in 10 municipalities on Sunday 29 March after the mission concluded, reinforce the delegation’s findings. The use of violence to restrict reporting and the absence of protections fosters a toxic environment that severely hinders the ability of journalists to work. The mission came at a time of unprecedented physical attacks on journalists and rampant online smear campaigns, led or amplified by influential members of the ruling party. Following the solidarity mission conducted by the MFRR in April 2025, the situation has worsened, despite repeated calls for action. Since the deadly collapse of Novi Sad train station canopy in November 2024 and the nationwide protests that followed, 294 press freedom violations targeting 513 media professionals and entities have been documented on the Mapping Media Freedom platform. During this time, Serbia has also been among the countries in Europe with the highest number of press freedom alerts on the CoE Platform. Following meetings with journalists, editors, trade unions and associations, the Supreme Public Prosecution office, the police, government and parliamentary officials, media outlets, the public service broadcaster, the international community and civil society bodies, the delegation is fearful that journalists are caught in a spiral of violence with few protections in place. The media freedom environment in Serbia is defined by physical attacks – often perpetrated by those charged with protecting journalists – verbal threats, including death threats, incitement to violence and divisive rhetoric, as well as extensive media capture. Violations also extend online; alongside online smear campaigns, coordinated bot attacks on social media accounts of independent media outlets and journalists, and Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks on news websites have emerged as new weapons of censorship. 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While she told the delegation she was aware of specific high-profile threats to journalists and the heinous legacy of impunity exemplified by the killing of Slavko Ćuruvija, this did not appear to extend to the full spectrum of threats made to journalists, including by the ruling party and amplified by pro-government media tabloids, social media and supporters of the party. Ms Brnabić committed to improve the government’s response rate to alerts published on the Council of Europe Platform. Since the platform’s launch in 2015, 61% of alerts from Serbia have not been responded to. The non-response rate in 2025, coinciding with the documented increase in alerts, was 85%. The delegation welcomed this commitment, but reiterated our request that Ms. Brnabic halt political attacks and condemn them, if they come from others, as a vital first step in rebuilding trust in the state’s willingness to improve media freedom in the country. 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U tom periodu, Srbija je takođe bila među zemljama u Evropi sa najvećim brojem upozorenja o kršenjima slobode medija na Platformi Saveta Evrope. Nakon sastanaka sa novinarima, urednicima, sindikatima i udruženjima, Vrhovnim javnim tužilaštvom, policijom, predstavnicima vlade i parlamenta, medijima, javnim servisom, međunarodnom zajednicom i organizacijama civilnog društva, delegacija izražava zabrinutost da su novinari i novinarke zarobljeni u spirali nasilja uz vrlo ograničene mehanizme zaštite. Medijsko okruženje u Srbiji karakterišu fizički napadi – često počinjeni od strane onih koji su zaduženi za zaštitu novinara i novinarki – verbalne pretnje, uključujući pretnje smrću, podsticanje na nasilje i zapaljivu retoriku koja produbljuje podele, kao i izražena zarobljenost medija. 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Stopa neodgovaranja u 2025. godini, koja se poklapa sa zabeleženim porastom broja upozorenja, iznosila je 85%. Delegacija je pozdravila ovo obavezivanje, ali je ponovila zahtev da gospođa Brnabić obustavi političke napade i da ih osudi kada dolaze od drugih, kao ključni prvi korak ka obnovi poverenja u spremnost države da unapredi slobodu medija u zemlji. Povećano nasilje nad medijima, podstaknuto masovnim protestima širom zemlje kao reakcijom na tragediju urušavanja nadstrešnice u Novom Sadu u novembru 2024. godine, kao i snažnim odgovorom države koji je usledio, dodatno se pogoršalo tokom 2025. i nastavlja se i u 2026. godini. Vrhovno javno tužilaštvo potvrdilo je da je došlo do povećanja od 115% u broju predmeta koji su mu upućeni u vezi sa medijskim radnicima, kao i do porasta od 367% u slučajevima koji se odnose na fizičke napade. Ovaj nagli rast krivičnih dela praćen je zabrinjavajućim nivoom nekažnjivosti. Tokom 2025. godine, pravosudni organi doneli su svega tri osuđujuće presude počiniocima krivičnih dela nad novinarima i i novinarkama. Ključni faktor, zaključila je delegacija, jeste kontinuirano urušavanje vladavine prava, kao i sistema namenjenih zaštiti novinara i novinarki u Srbiji. Nedovoljno efikasan odgovor policije na zahteve tužilaštva u vezi sa napadima na novinare i novinarke dovodi do sistematskog neuspeha u prikupljanju dovoljno dokaza koji bi omogućili pokretanje krivičnih postupaka. Uloga policije je ključna za pitanje bezbednosti novinara i novinarki. Međutim, tokom sastanaka sa Ministarstvom unutrašnjih poslova, Policijskom upravom za grad Beograd i Upravom kriminalističke policije, delegacija je bila zabrinuta zbog izostanka bilo kakvog priznanja ozbiljnosti problema i propusta policije u zaštiti novinara i novinarki i istrazi kršenja usmerenih protiv njih. Delegacija nije obaveštena ni o jednom slučaju u kojem je policijski službenik snosio odgovornost za navode o neprofesionalnom postupanju ili propust da reaguje. Čak i kada su predstavljeni konkretni i dobro dokumentovani primeri u kojima su policijski službenici bili počinioci napada, predstavnici organa za sprovođenje zakona nisu reagovali na način koji bi ukazivao na spremnost da iz ovih propusta izvuku pouke i ispune svoju zakonsku obavezu zaštite novinara i novinarki. Na sistemskom nivou, delegacija je izrazila kontinuiranu zabrinutost zbog nefunkcionisanja Saveta Regulatornog tela za elektronske medije (REM). Odsustvo funkcionalnog i nezavisnog Saveta REM-a predstavlja ozbiljnu prepreku za efikasno regulisanje elektronskih medija u celini, kao i za proces izdavanja dozvola. Ovakva situacija utiče i na upravljanje Radio-televizijom Srbije (RTS), javnim medijskim servisom, kao i na mehanizme njenog nadzora. Imajući u vidu da mandat četvoro članova Upravnog odbora RTS-a ističe u junu, kao i da se uskoro očekuju opšti izbori, odsustvo Saveta REM-a ili bilo kakvog vremenskog okvira za njegovo imenovanje nastaviće da produbljuje neizvesnost u vezi sa RTS-om i širim medijskim prostorom. Tokom sastanka, gospođa Brnabić je izrazila frustraciju zbog nastale situacije i želju da se pronađe rešenje, u saradnji sa međunarodnim telima. Delegacija naglašava da, kako bi proces bio kredibilan i prihvatljiv u skladu sa zakonodavstvom Srbije i mehanizmima pristupanja EU, izbor mora rezultirati imenovanjem profesionalnog, pluralističkog i istinski nezavisnog tela koje deluje u javnom interesu, a ne u odbrani političkih interesa. Ovi principi su apsolutno neupitni za ovaj proces. Spektar pretnji sa kojima se novinari i novinarke suočavaju raznovrstan je i složen. Sve češće se protiv novinara i novinarki koriste građanski i krivični postupci kako bi se ograničilo njihovo izveštavanje, kroz pretnju skupim i dugotrajnim sudskim procesima. Podaci Nacionalne radne grupe za borbu protiv SLAPP tužbi identifikovali su 48 SLAPP postupaka usmerenih protiv novinara, urednika, izdavača i medija od 2020. godine. Istraživački medij KRIK trenutno se suočava sa 14 sudskih postupaka. Dok veći i vidljiviji mediji ponekad mogu da odgovore kroz javne akcije solidarnosti i prikupljanje sredstava putem donacija za svoju odbranu, za lokalne medije, koji se već suočavaju sa ekonomskim poteškoćama, zloupotrebljeni pravni postupak može biti dovoljan da ugasi njihovo izveštavanje. Preporuka Saveta Evrope o suzbijanju zloupotrebe SLAPP tužbi uspostavlja detaljan okvir koji omogućava državama članicama, poput Srbije, da se na smislen način suprotstave ovakvim tužbama i zaštite novinarstvo. Gospođa Brnabić je ukazala na spremnost da se ovo pitanje reši, a ove preporuke predstavljaju snažnu polaznu osnovu. Uprkos jasnim podacima koje pružaju same pravosudne institucije Srbije o visokom broju napada na novinare i novinarke, nakon sastanaka misije uočen je dubok nesklad između ozbiljnosti situacije na terenu i procene i odgovora nadležnih organa. Neophodna je jasna politička volja kako bi se prekinula silazna spirala i obezbedilo da svi napadi na medije budu adekvatno sankcionisani u skladu sa zakonom. Dok se to ne dogodi, i dok se politički pritisci na nezavisno novinarstvo ne smanje, sloboda medija će nastaviti da trpi, podrivajući aspiracije Srbije za članstvo u Evropskoj uniji. Partneri misije objaviće izveštaj sa nalazima i preporukama upućenim vlastima u Srbiji, koji će takođe biti dostavljen Savetu Evrope, Evropskoj uniji i Organizaciji za evropsku bezbednost i saradnju (OEBS). Misiju je predvodila organizacija Article 19 Evropa, a učestvovali su i Udruženje evropskih novinara (AEJ), Komitet za zaštitu novinara (CPJ), Evropska radiodifuzna unija (EBU), Evropska federacija novinara (EFJ), Evropski centar za slobodu medija (ECPMF), Index on Censorship, Međunarodni institut za štampu (IPI), Opservatorija za Balkan Kavkaz Transevropa (OBCT) i Reporteri bez granica (RSF). READ MORE

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