PRECISELY on Sunday, September 28, 2025, the Nigeria Guild of Editors (NGE) joined the global Press to celebrate the 2025 World News Day. The annual event is set aside to sustain a global awareness campaign “to amplify the value of fact-based journalism” and to defend the integrity of the Press around the world.
But while emphasizing the commitment of the NGE to fact-based journalism, editorial integrity and defence of press freedom, the organization expressed concern over growing attempts to suppress freedom of the press, and freedom of expression in Nigeria. Both freedoms as guaranteed by the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) are key ingredients of democratic rule all over the world.
Sadly, the NGE noted, repressive actions against the press constitute a serious threat to democratic governance in the country. In a statement jointly signed by the National President and General Secretary, Eze Anaba and Onuohe Ukeh, respectively, the NGE said: “We will always stand firm to defend the rights of journalists, promote high ethical standards in our noble profession, and resist any move, in whatever form, to harass and intimidate journalists or impede journalism.”
Documented evidence of media repression in different parts of the country as captured by some media organs, including the International Press Institute Nigeria (IPI) and Media Rights Agenda (MRA) support the claim that the press is under attack.
Such alleged acts of brutality against the media include the banning of live political broadcasts in Kano State; eviction of Channels Television journalists from the press centre of Government House, Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, over the governor’s defection plan; and the detention of Hassan Kangiwa in Kebbi State in connection with his reportage on the neglect in a public hospital.
Others among the long list are the attack on Badegi 90.1 FM, Minna, allegedly by the Niger State governor; and arrest of an investigative reporter, Sodiq Atanda, in Ekiti State over certain reports, which the authorities claimed were in bad taste.
The MRA said that in the first two years of the incumbent federal administration, it recorded 141 incidents of brutal attacks on journalists, media workers and ordinary citizens for expressing their views on a variety of public issues including governance, economic hardship and the security situation in the country. According to the group, the police were used to effect 43.26 percent of the cases.
MRA Executive Director, Edetaen Ojo disclosed recently: “We are seeing threats to media freedom in Nigeria through the continual implementation of repressive laws such as the Cybercrime Act, which is frequently used to target, silence or punish journalists; the enforcement of politically motivated regulatory sanctions; arrests and detention of journalists; intimidation of media practitioners; and censorship of government-controlled broadcasters,”
Notably, repressive attacks on journalists and media houses hinder their capacity to perform their traditional roles of informing, educating and even entertaining the public. They incapacitate the media practitioners in their duty to hold government and corporate agencies accountable for their actions, a duty that enhances responsible governance for the good of citizens. This is unwholesome and regrettable in our esteemed view.
However, it should be pointed out that in the exercise of their press freedom and freedom of expression, some of journalists and media establishments throw caution to the wind. Ethics of the profession and the provisions of regulatory laws regardless, they publish stories often predicated on falsehood. In some instances, the stories are not verified or checked for facts; they simply publish based on mere hearsay, rumours or gossips. More often, this attitude tends to push journalists and media houses into brutal assaults and regrettable defamation suits.
Nevertheless, adherence to fact-based reportage stands as a defencive wall against repressive attacks on journalists and media organizations. In common parlance, the presence of evidence terminates arguments and controversies over an issue. That, exactly, is the power of fact in almost every situation.
We join the NGE in urging journalists, whether in the conventional or social media, to resist fake news, misinformation, and propaganda. They should adhere strictly to the tenets of journalism including accuracy, fairness, objectivity and fact-based reporting. We also implore the various authorities to exercise restraint in the attacks on supposedly erring journalists, but to seek legal remedies over their perceived injurious publications. That is what obtains in democracies around the world.
