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How Sierra Leone is Hiding Behind the Fight Against Cybercrime to Abuse Digital Rights

Kwaku Asante
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How Sierra Leone is Hiding Behind the Fight Against Cybercrime to Abuse Digital Rights

The Sierra Leonean government has introduced a Cyber Crime Bill (2020) in what it claims to be an attempt to tackle cybercrime and boost safety and security on digital platforms. There has, however, been a huge outcry that the Bill could be more repressive than the repealed Part V of the Public Order Act 1965 which criminalised libel.

Many Sierra Leoneans and freedom of expression advocates in and outside of the country do not share the government’s progressive view of the Bill which passed the pre-legislative stage in parliament on August 4, 2020. It is feared that, when passed, the Bill will greatly infringe on the rights of Sierra Leoneans and erode all gains the country has made in repealing laws that hamper the enjoyment of freedom of expression in the country.

Section 4(2) of the proposed Cybercrime Bill 2020 states that the fact that evidence has been generated, transmitted or seized from or identified in a search shall not in itself prevent that evidence from being presented, relied upon or admitted. This, according to human rights lawyer Augustine Sorie Sengbe Marah, puts a disproportionate burden on the accused to challenge the authenticity of the digital evidence rather than on the prosecution to prove same. He added that this can easily ensnare journalists or citizens with little or no means or expertise to challenge such digital evidence.

Another human rights lawyer, Ady Macauley, wrote on his Twitter account “S 10–draft cyber-crime Act 2020 empowers the state to force mobile operators to record your voice calls and SMS in real-time and give to the state. This is not data protection, this is data harvesting. Just like the repealed Public Order Act, state authorities will use it to suppress dissent.’’

Further Section 5 of the Bill grants power to the police to search and seize stored computer data pursuant to a warrant issued by a judge. These powers are too broad, as it makes no provision that protects journalists and other professionals holding legal or ethical relationship of trust, such as lawyers and doctors, from being compelled to disclose confidential information stored in digital form.

Section 5(4) is another sticking point. It allows the police, having secured a warrant to seize some particular data, to extend the search to other systems if they believe that the data concerned is stored in those other systems. This gives the authorities a carte blanche to go on a witch-hunt on journalists, human defenders, civil society activists, political opponents etc.

“There is a real danger of the police using a decoy to secure a seizure warrant only to go after the real targets, given that a new warrant is not required to extend the search to other systems.  Moreover, the device does not necessarily have to belong to the subject against whom the warrant was secured,’’ observed Vivian Affoah, Programme Manager for Digital Rights at MFWA.

Although Section 5.7 creates an offence for misuse of the search power, oversight over the use or misuse remains fluid.

Among other things, the Bill places enormous power in the hands of the Minister of Information who can determine punishments for alleged offenders of the Act. Throughout the Bill, almost all sanctions for offences are left to the discretion of the Minister. At Section 51 of the Bill, it is stated that “The Minister may by statutory instrument make regulations as it considers necessary or expedient for giving effect to this Act”.

This power could be abused. In line with international practice, the courts should be the ones to determine punishment for breach of law and not Ministers of state. Or punishment for offences under the Bill should be stated in the Bill and not left to the Minister.

Section 21 of the bill also raises data protection and privacy concerns as “a police officer or other authorised person may, without authorisation access publicly available (open source) stored computer data, regardless of where the data is located geographically”.

Also, Section 35 has been likened to Part V of the Public Order Act 1965 which was repealed in 2020. Under this section, a person can be accused of causing an offence if he “ought to have known that his conduct is likely to cause that person apprehension or fear of violence to him or damage or loss on his property; or detrimentally affects that person.” The expression “ought to have known” is problematic because an individual cannot tell how their messages will be received to know if it will cause the recipient any apprehension.  An individual can be charged with this offence simply on the report of the recipient indicating that the message caused him apprehension.

Under subsection 2 of the same Section 35, sending or sharing materials offensive or menacing in character, annoying, insulting, hateful, expressing ill-will etc. is an offence. Although, subsection 3 excludes messages or other matters done in the interest of the public, determining what constitutes insult or public interest has always been fluid and too often subjective.

The reference to insult and ill-will is unnerving, as it revives memories of the ordeal of freelance journalist Mahmud Tim Kargbo who was arrested for sharing content on social media deemed “insulting” and “scurrilous” about Sierra Leone’s assistant inspector-general of police, Patrick A.T. Johnson. He was arraigned in court when, on December 4, 2020, he reported to the police in response to a November 30, 2019 summons.  The journalist was charged with defamation under Section 3 of the Public Order Act and released on bail after spending a few hours in the Pademba Road maximum prison.

It is, therefore, feared that by the time the courts make a determination with anyone charged with this offence, the accused person may have spent many days or months and perhaps years in detention during the course of investigation and prosecution. It will, therefore, be important if what constitutes an insult, annoyance for example can be included in the definition on terms in the Bill.

The ubiquitous “national security” mantra is also sowing discord. Section 27 makes it an offence to intercept non-public transmissions of data from a computer system, the transmission of which threatens national security.

Besides the fact that the definition of national security has always been problematic and has been used to abuse human rights, there is the risk of investigative journalists in particular being deemed to have intercepted classified, security-sensitive information unless they can cite their sources. It is important to note that the Bill as it stands now criminalises the possession of such information and that one does not need to have published it to fall foul of the law.

In the Constitution of the National Cybersecurity Advisory Council, a member shall cease to be a member if “the President is satisfied that it is not in the public interest for the person to continue as a member of the Council”.  This is not reasonable grounds for a member of the council to be removed especially when public interest is not defined under the Bill. The President can arbitrarily remove a member of the council with the excuse that their removal is in the public interest.

Meanwhile, we have noted that the proposed National Cybersecurity Advisory Council does not include any representative from the media or the Bar. We believe these two institutions are critical in ensuring that fundamental rights are protected, competing interests are accommodated while regulating behaviour and activities in the digital space.

While the media and human rights advocates express concern about the Bill, Sierra Leone’s Minister of Information and Communications, Mohamed Rahman Swarray, says he is “excited” about the storm the Bill has provoked.

“I am excited by the debate around the cybercrime Bill 2020. I wish to assure all Sierra Leoneans that this bill will not tamper with the freedoms and human rights that His Excellency President Bio is so passionate about. All this bill seeks to do is to protect our citizens in digital space and make good international commitments like the African Union‘s Malabo Accord to which Sierra Leone is a signatory, enforce the ECOWAS directive on cyber-crime and data protection and support our accession to the Budapest Convention like other countries in the region have done,” the Minister reacted on his Facebook account.

The MFWA wishes to draw the attention of the Minister of Information that the Malabo Convention does not prescribe a violation of citizens’ rights and make the use of the internet a potential crime.

The Malabo Convention enjoins states that “in adopting legal measures in the area of cybersecurity and establishing the framework for implementation thereof, each State Party shall ensure that the measures so adopted will not infringe on the rights of citizens guaranteed under the national constitution and internal laws, and protected by international conventions, particularly the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and other basic rights such as freedom of expression, the rights to privacy and the right to a fair hearing among others.”

The Cybercrime Act fails woefully at this and does not protect citizens’ personal data. In fact, the Bill has the potential to cause breaches to data protection and privacy rights.

We will also urge the Sierra Leonean authorities to be guided by the provisions of the Malabo Convention to which they claim to be committed to and take note of Article 33 of the same Convention which notes that “Provisions of this Convention shall not be interpreted in a manner that is inconsistent with the relevant principles of international law, including international customary law.”

The MFWA shares the concerns raised by various actors in Sierra Leone about the cybercrime bill and joins the call from our partner organisation MRCG and other stakeholders for the Bill to be withdrawn from Parliament for stakeholders to make their inputs. The views expressed by civil society, human rights defenders, digital rights experts, academia, internet service providers etc, must be given serious consideration in the review of the Bill to make it human rights-respecting rather than restrictive.

Top 3 Issues Shaping the 2021 Presidential Election in Benin

Kwaku Asante
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Top 3 Issues Shaping the 2021 Presidential Election in Benin

The Republic of Benin will hold its presidential elections on April 11, 2021. The incumbent, Patrice Talon, will face former minister Alassane Soumanou Djimba from the Cowry Forces for an Emerging Benin (FCBE), and Corentin Kohoué, a growing figure in the political arena in Benin.

The election comes against the background of deteriorating democratic standards and backsliding press freedom situation over the past few years. This retrogression is evidenced by increasing incidents where civil society activists are threatened, media outlets shut down and journalists jailed.

According to Freedom House, Benin’s rapid decline in democratic standards has pushed its freedom status from free to partly free. The Media Foundation for West Africa’s (MFWA) monitoring also shows a decline in freedom of expression in the country.

The 2021 elections will determine the future of Benin’s democracy. Already, the political atmosphere is tensed, as the main opposition candidate has been jailed, raising a lot of concerns.

The three key issues shaping this year’s elections are the adoption of a new electoral code and a sponsorship system for candidates; the stifling media landscape; and the fear of internet shutdown before and during the election.

The New Electoral Code

In November 2019 the National Assembly adopted a new Electoral Code regulating general elections. Among the provisions of the new code is the creation of a vice president position and a sponsorship system which requires that all candidates must be sponsored by at least 10% of elected officials in the country either Mayors and/or Members of Parliament). Currently, Benin has 83 Members of Parliament (MPs) and 77 mayors. Per the new electoral code, a presidential candidate needs not less than 16 elected officials to sponsor him/her to be eligible.

Political watchers and analysts say with 100 percent of Members of Parliament on the side of the President and 90% of Mayors supporting the President, the number of sponsors provided by the law leaves no possibility for a political change in government in the April 11 polls. This has heavily dented the electoral process.

The current political architecture in Benin stems from the 2019 parliamentary election in which no opposition party was allowed to participate due to stringent eligibility criteria. This resulted in a unicameral parliament in favour of the government. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and political tensions from the 2019 parliamentary elections, the opposition boycotted the 2020 municipal elections, and so have almost no sponsors among the mayors.

The country’s major opposition party – The Democrats – has accordingly rejected the new code and described it as a strategy for the ruling regime to handpick candidates for the elections. In February 2021, the election management body “CENA” rejected 17 applications including those of main candidates of the opposition. All applications were rejected mainly due to the lack of sponsorship. President Patrice Talon however secured 118 endorsements.

The Democrats indicated that they had taken steps to secure an endorsement from elected officials, but the latter were not free to make their choices to sponsor a candidate capable of challenging the sitting president. Political analysts in the country have dubbed the contest “Talon versus Talon”. As the political landscape gets increasingly tensed, some senior officials of the opposition party, The Democrats, have been arrested and are being prosecuted for “terrorism financing” while other opposition members have fled the country.

The opposition’s absence in the upcoming presidential election is likely to undermine the credibility of the polls and the legitimacy of the elected president. In the longer term, the lack of opposition voices in political and governance processes and the absence of political consensus will restrict the political space and undermine democracy.

Stifling Media landscape ahead of the polls

Benin is home to a diversified and vibrant media landscape made up of 70 radio stations, over 60 newspapers, and 15 TV channels. The electoral management body has assigned each candidate air time on selected media outlets to share their manifestos with the electorate.

In January 2020, the media regulatory body, the High Authority of Audio-visual and Communication (HAAC) adopted a policy to regulate the pre-campaign period spanning from January 25 to March 25, 2021. The policy bans media outlets from publishing or producing any content announcing a candidacy; reports on activities organised to support a candidate, and reports on propaganda to the benefit of a political party.

According to Guy Constant Ehoumi, former President of ODEM, the Media Self-regulatory Body in Benin “This measure constitute a limitation to media freedom and the media’s role in informing the citizenry”.

Considering the role the media plays in providing critical information to educate the citizenry in making informed voting decisions during elections, the current context clearly undermines the role of the media and could result in low turnout on election day.

Since 2016, the HAAC has shut down several media houses, adopted repressive legislation towards the press, and jailed several journalists in recent years. This has instilled fear amongst media practitioners in Benin as they operate with a high sense of self-censorship and resulted in a considerable decrease in the number of public debates on governance issues and critical analysis of major issues in the media.

Fears of Social Media shutdown

Social media has become vital for elections campaigning in Benin. Since the eruption of the COVID-19 pandemic, laws limiting social gathering and mass rallies are still in place. Consequently, many candidates have resorted to social media platforms to communicate with the electorate. The main social media platforms in the country are Facebook, WhatsApp, and Twitter. According to internet world stats, 30% of the population in the country has access to internet and 1,538,000 Facebook users.

Ahead of the polls, public officials in the country have warned against the dissemination of false information. The dissemination of fake news and preservation of national security are often cited as the reasons by governments across Africa to shut down the internet. In the face of the increasing political tension and calls by major opposition figures for massive public protest, many fear that the internet could be shut down. even before the election.

 “We are really worried as we believe that with the current political contest in the country, internet could be shut down even before the election” said a prominent journalist in Benin who spoke with the MFWA on condition of anonymity.

In 2019, the government disrupted the internet in the wake of massive public protests against the conduct of parliamentary elections. The current context lends itself as a recipe for another shutdown.

In the light of the above, the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) urges all stakeholders in the 2021 electioneering process in Benin – government, opposition, media, elections management body, security agencies, and CSOs -to prioritise and make all efforts to safeguard the peace in the country.

Specifically, the MFWA urges the Benin Government to urgently open dialogue channels with the opposition and find a middle ground aimed at deflating the political tension in the country, put in place measures, including safety measures, to facilitate the media’s coverage of the elections and endeavour to keep the internet on before, during and after the elections.

The MFWA also urges the media to continue advocating for peace, tolerance, and a level playing field for all political parties; persevere in their effort to provide factual, accurate, and credible coverage of the electoral process, and endeavour to stay safe while covering the elections.

The Regional body, ECOWAS, should impress on the government of Benin to resort to dialogue with the opposition and to mediate between both parties in addressing the political impasse.

Authorities Ban March in Support of Detained Journalist

Kwaku Asante
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Authorities Ban March in Support of Detained Journalist

The Guinean authorities have barred a group of journalists from holding a march in support of their detained colleague, Amadou Diouldé Diallo.

Expressing their disappointment, the journalists argue that the offence of which Mr. Diouldé is accused was committed through the press and therefore falls within the scope of Law L002 on freedom of the press. According to this law, press offences are decriminalised in Guinea.

The group of journalists had previously submitted a letter to the city authorities of Kaloum to apply for a permit. But at the last minute on March 30, 2021, the Administration banned the march, with the vice mayor citing the prevailing health emergency. Abdoul Malick, spokesperson for the group, told MFWA by phone that “It is an illegal ban. But, given the environment, we will comply.” He added that the group plans to hold a virtual march to mark the day.

Banned from marching in Conakry, the journalists gathered at the Maison de la presse the following day to read a statement that was meant to be delivered to the Minister of Justice if the demonstration had been authorised.

As a reminder, the journalist and historian Amadou Diouldé Diallo was charged on March 1, 2021, for “insulting the head of state and defamation”. Placed under a committal order, he has been held since that date at the Central Prison of Conakry.

“Assuming that Mr. Diallo is found guilty of offending the head of state, he could only be sentenced to a fine ranging from 1 to 5 million Gnf, according to Article 105 of the Law on freedom of the press. However, in order to circumvent the strict application of the law, the Guinean judiciary decided to put him in pre-trial detention for an unknown period of time”, the group protested in a statement at the virtual demonstration.

“History will remember that the municipal authorities of Kaloum have been complicit not only in the violation of the Constitution that allows us to hold demonstrations, but also in the attempt to muzzle the press in our country,” the statement continued.

Affirming that the Guinean press is in danger, the Collective in support of Amadou Diouldé Diallo invited all journalists, professional media associations, civil society organisations and human rights NGOs to denounce the violation of Law L002 on press freedom in Guinea.

The Media Foundation for West Africa is deeply concerned about the detention of Amadou Diouldé Diallo and joins the media fraternity in Guinea in calling for his release.  We maintain that Diallo should not be imprisoned for what he said on the radio, as press offences are decriminalised in Guinea.

MFWA Donates Publications Worth over US$10,000 to Media Training Institutions

Kwaku Asante
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MFWA Donates Publications Worth over US$10,000 to Media Training Institutions

The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) on Wednesday 30th March 2021 donated books worth over US$10,000 to nine Universities across Ghana.

The books, which comprised of over 40 exclusive publications, were handed over to the heads of schools and/or departments of journalism, media, and communication studies in the nine Universities – University of Ghana, Ghana Institute of Journalism, University of Education, Central University, Wisconsin University College, African University College of Communications, Valley View University, and University of Professional Studies

Each Institution received about 150 copies of the books which cover broad and specific issues of Freedom of Expression Rights, Media and Elections, Safety of Journalists, Right to Information, Legal Frameworks covering the work of the Media in West Africa, Digital Rights, and other related documents.

The MFWA extended the support to the training institutions as part of its commitment to contribute to the education of students in the fields of journalism, communications, and human rights. The donation was, thus, aimed at resourcing both students and faculty of the respective Universities with rich reference points for teaching, learning, and research.

The organisation also indicated its commitment to support other media training institutions in the West Africa region.

“As a regional organisation, this support will not be limited to institutions in Ghana only, but will be extended to other media training institutions in the respective countries in the region to resource them with teaching, learning and research materials,” Programme Manager of the Institutional Development Programme of the MFWA, Dora B. Mawutor, hinted.

Presenting the publications to the Institutions, the Executive Director of the MFWA, Sulemana Braimah, encouraged students of the various training facilities to broaden their knowledge beyond their immediate environment so they can appreciate what is happening across the region and beyond.

“I think it’s important that we just don’t learn about what exists in our context, but also what exists in the other countries across West Africa to broaden our knowledge base, hence the decision to include publications about other West African countries,” he said at a short handing over ceremony in Accra.

He also indicated the MFWA’s readiness to continuously engage and explore collaborations with academia in the orgnaisation’s quest to contribute to nurturing the next generation of activists and human rights defenders.

The Deans and Heads of Department of the media and communications schools/ departments of the beneficiary Institutions thanked the MFWA for the consideration to extend such support to them. They also indicated their willingness to cooperate with the organisation to expand mentorship and internship opportunities for their students.

Ghana 2020 Elections: Abusive Language on Radio Declined by 79%

Kwaku Asante
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Ghana 2020 Elections: Abusive Language on Radio Declined by 79%

The Media Foundation for West Africa’s (MFWA) language monitoring project has recorded a 79 per cent decline in the use of abusive language on radio, during the election period (June 2020-January 2021) in Ghana.

The language monitoring project monitored 60 influential radio stations across the country from June 2020 to January 2021. When the project commenced in June 2020, 90 indecent expressions were recorded. However, through MFWA’s campaign against the use of indecent expressions on radio and as well naming and shaming individuals who were cited in the monthly reports, the indecent expressions dropped significantly to 19 in January 2021.

A trend analyses of the 12 most abusive radio stations (out of the 60) show a significant reduction in the use of abusive language from the beginning to the end of the project. Below is a trend analysis of the 12 radio stations.


During the project period, 17,280 programmes were monitored on the 60 radio stations across the country. The programmes monitored included news bulletins, current affairs and political discussion shows. A total of 582 indecent expressions were recorded on all the programmes monitored. The four leading indecent expressions cited were Insulting and Offensive Comments (313); Unsubstantiated Allegations (203); Inciting Violence (28) and Provocative Comments (16).

 Radio Stations, Political Parties and Use of Abusive Language on Radio

Thirty-four (34) out of the sixty (60) radio stations were cited for the use of indecent expression on their platforms. Cumulatively, officials, supporters and affiliates of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) made 218 indecent expressions while those of National Democratic Congress (NDC) were cited for the use of 135 indecent expressions during the monitoring period. The other political parties who were also cited over the period were the United Front Party (UFP) with 26 indecent expressions, the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) with eight (8) indecent expressions, the Great Consolidated Popular Party (GCPP) with four (4) indecent expressions, the Ghana Freedom Party (GFP), the Liberal Party of Ghana (LPG), and the Convention People’s Party (CPP) all recorded one (1) indecent expression each.

The MFWA’s Language monitoring on radio project was implemented with funding support from the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA), and STAR Ghana Foundation with funding from UKAID and EU and USAID through CDD-Ghana.

Details of the full report are available here.

The instrument used for the monitoring, which contains the category definitions for tracking and reporting of indecent language on radio is also available here. For further clarifications and media interviews, contact the Programme Manager, Abigail Larbi Odei (0244867047) or Programme Officer, Kwaku Krobea Asante (0249484528).

The Footprints of MFWA Across West Africa in the Year When it was Risky to Step Foot Outside

Kwaku Asante
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The Footprints of MFWA Across West Africa in the Year When it was Risky to Step Foot Outside

The indelible memories of the year 2020 can never be lost in history giving the havoc that the outbreak of COVID-19 has caused across the globe. The devastating effect of the pandemic has been felt in almost every sphere of life, including the operations of state, private and civil society organisatons. The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) was equally impacted in all its operations. The situation, however, did not bring the operations of the MFWA to a standstill.

The organisation remained resolute in executing its mandate and implementing practically all its project activities slated for 2020. Through continuous environmental scanning, strategising and proactive engagements, the organisation was able to turn around the misfortune that COVID-19 would have brought to its operations into significant milestones.

Monitoring Violations, Deepening Digital Rights Appreciation

Through virtual and face-to-face engagements (after the partial/full lockdown imposed by governments in many countries was lifted), the organisation was able to monitor and report on freedom of expression (FOE), media development, and digital rights violations, and other developments across West Africa. Through the monitoring, the MFWA published over 100 reports, statements, alerts, and other articles on freedom of expression and digital rights developments.

Specifically, on digital rights, the organisation produced six research reports on internet-related laws with FOE implications in six francophone countries – Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Togo, Niger, and Mali. Also, about 130 female journalists, bloggers, and activists in Ghana received capacity building on digital literacy and women’s rights online.

Improving the Safety of Journalists in West Africa

The organisation also championed safety of journalists advocacy in the region by organising three webinars on the safety of journalists in their line of duty. The MFWA also organised four forums on improving the relationship between the media and security agencies in Ghana and Guinea to help reduce attacks against media personnel by security agencies and bring security agents who fall culprits to book. The organisation also mapped out safety of journalists’ policies and practices among media houses in Ghana, Liberia and Sierra Leone to inform advocacy interventions. To complement the mapping, a total of 210 journalists were trained on safety of journalists practices in Ghana, Liberia, and Sierra Leone.

In addition, there were targeted safety of journalists campaigns in Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, Nigeria. The MFWA also championed a number of campaigns, including the one that led to the release of jailed Beninois journalist, Ignace Sossou.

Strengthening the Capacities of Local Government Officials and Journalists on Right to Information

Following the passage of the RTI Law in Ghana, the MFWA has been engaging various assemblies to improve their knowledge and understanding of the law to facilitate proactive information disclosure. In 2020, the organisation trained 50 District Assembly Officials on the said law. As a complementary effort to the trainings, 15 citizens-authorities dialogue programmes were held on radio to enable community members engage the officials of District, Municipal and Metropolitan Assemblies on a number of development issues.

Also, in 15 Districts, the organisation supported local radio stations to produce programmes on accountability and citizens’ voices. This created a platform for citizens to engage duty-bearers and demand responses to the management and utilisation of public resources.

The MFWA also published a guide book on Ghana’s Right to Information Law (Act 989) titled, Essentials of the RTI Law. The book is a toolkit to help journalists, citizens, and information holders understand the Act and how it operates. It is a five-chapter book containing practically all and everything in the Right to Information Act, 2019 (Act 989). It presents an easy understanding of the law and its operations, and empowers the reader to use and assert the law to procure information to which access is guaranteed under the law.

Promoting Issues-based Campaigning and Peaceful Elections in West Africa

2020 was an election year for some West African countries, including Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, and Niger. To contribute to issues-based campaigning and peaceful elections, the MFWA, with support from its funders, engaged in a number of activities. Key among them was the monitoring and reporting of hate speech and other indecent expressions on radio – the most accessible media platform in many West African countries. Close to 100 radio stations were monitored for ethical infractions, use of hate speech, and other incendiary expressions before, during, and after elections in Ghana and Niger. Daily results from the monitoring were collated, analysed, and shared with the public in the form of 25 biweekly and monthly reports.

Countering Fake News, Mis/Disinformation about COVID-19

When COVID-19 broke out, the organisation, again through continuous scanning of the environment identified a major challenge – mis/disinformation about the virus, its spread, and cure. The MFWA engaged some of its funders who supported a project on countering fake news and mis/disinformation on COVID-19 in Ghana. As part of the project, the MFWA partnered 50 national- and local-level radio stations to counter fake news, mis/disinformation, dispel myths and sensitise over 10million Ghanaians about COVID-19. Altogether, close to 200 fact-checked reports and explainers, 14 audio/video documentaries, and about 15 newspaper articles and features were produced.

At the regional level, the MFWA worked with its partner organisations across the region to produce 22 country situational reports on Media and COVID-19 to highlight the impact of COVID-19 on the media industry. All the COVID-19 reports were widely publicised and referenced at national, regional, and international levels.

Media, Governance CSOs Urge ECOWAS to Prioritise Press Freedom, Media Development Issues in Vision 2050

Kwaku Asante
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Media, Governance CSOs Urge ECOWAS to Prioritise Press Freedom, Media Development Issues in Vision 2050

Preamble

A group of Media and Civil Society Organisations working to promote media development, anti-corruption and democratic governance in West Africa are urging the regional body, ECOWAS, to prioritize issues of press freedom and media development in its agenda, especially in drafting the Vision 2050.

In a communiqué issued after a two-day strategy meeting in Accra, the group commended the ECOWAS Heads of States and Governments for their efforts so far in sustaining democratic governance in West Africa. It, however, bemoaned the shrinking civic space and called for practical, specific, and coherent regional frameworks, policies, and strategies to ensure the protection and security of journalists and other critical voices to promote transparency, accountability and ultimately deepen democratic governance in the region.

The two-day regional forum held on March 16 and 17, 2021 brought together leading media and governance civil society organisations both virtually and in-person. Participants deliberated on regional challenges of press freedom, the shrinking civic space, intimidations, and attacks on journalists and dissenting voices; corruption; access to information, heavy crackdown of social movements; the adoption of repressive cybersecurity laws, and the use of lethal force from state law enforcement officers against citizen.

Kindly read the full communique below:

Communiqué:

Regional Stakeholder Forum on Media and Democratic Governance in West Africa

Accra, March 17, 2021

We, a group of Media and Civil Society Organisations working on press freedom, media development, anti-corruption and democratic governance across West Africa after a two-day regional stakeholders’ strategy meeting in Accra, Ghana,

Commend the ECOWAS Heads of States and Governments for their efforts at sustaining democratic governance in West Africa as demonstrated in the adoption of several protocols and frameworks developed to guide actions by member states and for the purposes of improving the democratic dividends and ensuring the attainment of the ECOWAS Vision.

Observe, however, that, while the region has made progress in promoting democratic governance, several challenges remain unresolved in the face of many emerging issues.  These include the continuous violation of freedom of expression and of the press, the violation of citizens’ right to assemble and protest, challenges in accessing information, and the harsh legislative environment limiting the watchdog role of the media and civil society organisations.

Deeply Concerned about the continuous abuses of democratic rights of citizens, the shrinking civic space, the increasing levels of physical attacks, persecutions and prosecution of journalists, voices of dissent, human rights defenders, anti-corruption crusaders, the use of lethal force by law enforcement officers to crackdown on protesters. Of particular note is how such actions have recently resulted in the killing of over 50 protesters and the arrest of over two hundred demonstrators in Guinea, Nigeria, Senegal, and Mali.

Disturbed by the increased violations of freedom of expression and of the press online with the adoption of repressive cybercrime laws, and digital codes criminalizing online press offenses and imposing extreme penalties including imprisonment and crippling fines on journalists and the media, the growing trend of internet and social media shutdown, especially during elections limiting online activism, and information dissemination.

Urge ECOWAS to incorporate standards that guarantee the civic space in bilateral discussions and negotiations with governments where civic space is under threat and also support the formulation, enactment, and implementation of the right to information law in countries that have not done so and uphold freedom of expression rights as enshrined in their respective constitutions as well as regional and international instruments that guarantee access to information and freedom of expression.

Entreat ECOWAS Heads of States and Governments to comply with the provisions spelt out in the ECOWAS Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance, as well as international frameworks they are signatories to including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the African Charter on Human Rights.

Call on ECOWAS Heads of States and Governments to collaborate to adopt and implement well-defined protocols for the protection of journalists especially those in areas afflicted by insurgency and terrorism and repeal repressive cyber laws that criminalise online press offense.

Commit to engaging, collaborating, and supporting ECOWAS to mainstream issues of press freedom in its democratic governance interventions as well as significantly contributing towards the realisation of the ECOWAS Vision 2050 being developed.

This Communiqué is issued in Accra on March 17, 2021 and signed by the following organisations:

Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) – Ghana

ONG3D – Senegal;

Maison de la Presse – Mali;

Gambia Press Union (GPU) – Gambia;

Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) – Nigeria;

Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) – Ghana;

West Africa Civil Society Institute (WACSI) – Ghana;

Institute for Democratic Governance (IDEG) – Ghana;

Media Reform Coordinating Group (MRCG) – Sierra Leone;

Ghana Independent Broadcasters Association (GIBA);

Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD West Africa) – Nigeria;

Réseaux National de Lutte Anti-Corruption (RENLAC) – Burkina Faso;

Centre for Media Studies and Peacebuilding (CEMESP) – Liberia;

Association Guinéenne des Editeurs de la Presse Indépendante (AGEPI) – Guinea;

Observatoire de la Liberté de la Presse, l’Ethique et la Déontologie (OLPED) – Cote d’Ivoire;

Observatoire Nigérien Independent des Médias de l’Ethique et de la Déontologie (ONIMED) – Niger.

Journalist Receives Death Threats after Publishing Report on the Sickness of Politician

Kwaku Asante
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Journalist Receives Death Threats after Publishing Report on the Sickness of Politician

The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) condemns the death threat against journalist Jonas Baikeh of the Ivorian news website L’infodrome, who was on reporting duty at the funeral of Prime Minister Hamed Bakayoko in Séguéla, on March 17, 2021.

Jonas Baikeh was accused of disclosing some information about the ill-health of Bouaké Fofana, Chief Executive Officer of the state housing corporation, SICOGI (Société Ivoirienne de Construction et de Gestion Immobilière), who is also the president of the Worodougou regional council in charge of organising the funeral of the late Prime Minister.

According to several witnesses, the president of the Worodougou regional council, Bouaké Fofana, felt sick and nearly collapsed, but for the vigilance of his immediate neighbours. Mr. Fofana was evacuated to a health facility in the city.

The incident occurred during a meeting with the youth at the local headquarters of the Rhdp (Rally of Houphouëtists for Democracy and Peace), in the presence of municipal and district authorities and journalists, including Jonas Baikeh.

Baikeh’s misfortune was to have relayed the information in real-time on the website that sent him on the mission.

The supporters of the SICOGI CEO decided to silence the journalist, ordering him to leave the city before 6 pm or risk losing his life. The information was confirmed by several newspapers including L’infodrome.

A journalist with L’Inter newspaper also confirmed the facts on his Facebook page.

“The relatives of Bouaké Fofana are angry with L’infodrome’s journalist who took part in a meeting of the Rhdp on Wednesday morning. During this meeting, their mentor, Bouaké Fofana had a malaise and was evacuated to a health centre. When informed about the release of the information, the relatives of the SICOGI’s CEO decided to silence him forever. This incident took place after 6pm. At present, the journalist has taken refuge in an undisclosed location. We will come back to him!” said Venance Kokora.

Due to the threat on his life, the journalist had to return to Abidjan for his own safety and in order not to be trapped in a hideout where the worst can happen.

The death threat against journalist Jonas Baikeh by the supporters of SICOGI’s CEO is a serious violation of press freedom. While condemning the attack, the MFWA urges political leaders to educate their supporters on the important role of journalists in informing the public.

The organisation further calls for an investigation into this unjustified attack on the journalist and demands that the perpetrators be punished.

Police Increasingly Pointing Guns at Journalists for Pointing Phones at Brutal Abuse

Kwaku Asante
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Police Increasingly Pointing Guns at Journalists for Pointing Phones at Brutal Abuse

On October 21, two journalists from The Punch Newspapers, Segun Odunayo and Femi Dawodu, were assaulted by the police who also seized their phones while they were covering live on Facebook #EndSars protests at the Alausa area in Lagos.

“They seized our cameras and smartphones and stripped us of our clothes to see if we had hidden cameras on our bodies,” the journalists narrated. The police officers also threatened to shoot at them when they showed their identification cards.

The above incident demonstrates a fear of journalists’ cameras by the police as well as an attitude of prejudice or hostility against the media. Unfortunately, it is not an isolated incident. Between August 2020 and February 28, 2021, the MFWA has documented assaults on journalists and media workers in Ghana, Senegal, and Nigeria by security officers for filming their activities, with at least 20 journalists involved. In some cases, security agents or political party thugs have unleashed violence on journalists in a gratuitous manner that smacks of prejudice or vendetta.

In Nigeria, several journalists were subjected to violence, and their camera’s seized by security forces anxious to censor coverage of their brutalities against protesters, especially during the #Endsars protests.

On October 11, some police officers assaulted Francis Ogbonna and Ferdinand Duruoha, cameraman and reporter respectively of Arise Television, while they were covering protests in Abuja. In a video published on Twitter, Duruoha is seen narrating how he and his colleague were attacked by policemen while interviewing protesters live on Twitter. In the process, Ogbonna’s camera was seized and broken. Clearly, the police feared their violent crowd control operations had been filmed.

On November 28, a group of soldiers in Rivers State, arrested and detained Grace Alheri Abdu, Voice of America(VOA) correspondent for five hours. The journalist had gone to Oyigbo Local Government Area (LGA) to report on riots and was taking pictures of properties destroyed in the riots when the military officers on patrol in the zone accosted her and took her into detention. The soldiers accused her of running a live broadcast of their operations without authorisation.

On January 6, officers of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) harassed three photojournalists – Olatunji Obasa of The Punch, Olu Aremo of Leadership, and Mudashiru Atanda of The Sun – and seized Obasa’s camera. The journalists were filming police brutality against a woman at the headquarters of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) Abuja where hundreds had gathered to register their SIM cards with their national identification numbers (NIN).

“One of the officers threatened to destroy my camera, which he did. He forcefully collected and broke it,” Obasa told MFWA.

In Ghana, a soldier, identified only as Lieutenant Frimpong, assaulted Stanley Nii Blewu, a cameraman with TV3, for taking pictures of a clean-up exercise at the Tema Station in Accra on August 12, 2020. The military officer, who was supervising the clean-up exercise, first seized the phone of Blewu’s colleague and reporter, Joseph Armstrong.  Subsequently, he assaulted Blewu who had defied his orders to surrender his camera, seized his phone and camera before deleting all recordings from the gadgets.

On October 7, 2020, the police seized the mobile phone of the correspondent of Accra-based online newspaper Whatsup News and forced him to delete pictures he had taken of their raid on the newspaper’s offices to arrest the Editor-in-Chief, David Tamakloe, over a critical story.

In another case of police phobia for the cameras, a police officer, on January 14, 2021, arrested Selorm Gborbidzi, a reporter of the Accra-based The Finder newspaper for filming a scuffle between him and a driver of a commercial vehicle. The reporter was bundled into a police vehicle and taken to the University of Ghana Police Station where he was locked up for four hours and released only after he handed over his phone for the recordings to be deleted.

On January 15, 2021, a group of private guards assaulted a news crew from Kumasi-based LUV FM at a suspected illegal mining site at Manso in the mineral-rich Ashanti region of Ghana. On the orders of the operator of the site, some military personnel suspected to have been privately engaged by the miner seized the camera and personal phones of the journalists and deleted all the recordings.

In Senegal, the police rounded up a group of journalists and forced them to delete pictures of their (police) assault on Adja Ndiaye, a camerawoman from the online news portal Dakaractu. She had joined other media personnel to follow-up on the case of a popular activist Dj Malick who had been summoned by the cybercrime brigade on September 28 in Dakar.

Sometimes, security officers and other groups or individuals who feel offended by reports or comments published about them decide to avenge themselves on every journalist who comes their way.

This was the case of Ebuka Onyeji, a reporter with the Premium Times online newspaper, who was gratuitously assaulted by police officers while he was covering protests in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, on October 11, 2020. According to a report by the online newspaper, one of the officers cursed in anger “God punish you, journalists,” when Onyeji identified himself as a journalist.

In an apparent case of transferred aggression, some police officers in Rivers State assaulted Andortan Romeo, the circulation officer of The Guardian newspaper in the state, alongside his counterparts from THISDAY newspaper, Abel Jumbo and News Telegraph, Joe Etim, while the three were carrying out their official duties on October 26, 2020. The online portal of The Guardian newspaper, guardian.ng, quoted the officers as saying that the security agents of the Eagle Crack Unit of the police in Port Harcourt, accosted them and got infuriated when they showed their cards to prove that they were media workers.

“We showed them our identity cards and they got infuriated, started beating and torturing us. They asked us to kneel down and later took Etim to their station to cut grass,” Romeo reportedly told the newspaper.

On February 28, some police officers attacked Daniel Eniola, a reporter with the privately-owned newspaper, The Guardian, after he photographed their demolition of makeshift buildings in Apapa, Lagos.

According to a report by The Guardian, one officer cursed “You are a bastard,” as soon as Eniola identified himself as a journalist, before other officers joined to assault the journalist.

The MFWA also reported a number of attacks on journalists motivated by prejudice during Ghana’s general elections held on December 7, 2020. On December 9, two journalists from Ghanaweb.com, Laud Adu-Asare, and Sandra Obiribea, were assaulted by supporters of the opposition National Democratic Congres (NDC) party. They were covering a press conference by NDC executives at the party’s headquarters in Accra. The assailants said the media house the journalists work for was biased against their party. Adu-Asare emerged from the attack with a bruised left arm, with his shirt and media jacket shredded.

On the same day (December 9), Osei Kwadwo Ambassador, a reporter with Pure FM was attacked by some angry supporters of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in Kumasi. The assailants accused the Angel Broadcasting Network (ABN), of which Pure FM is a subsidiary, of biased coverage of the elections. The reporter’s mobile phone was also seized by the thugs.

The MFWA finds this trend of police officers attacking journalists and deleting their recordings quite disturbing. In the first place, journalists have the right to cover all public operations of the security services. The officers are authorized to restrict media access to their public operations only when necessary to protect public safety or to prevent interference with their work. In none of the cases cited above did the aggressive security officers claim that the journalists involved had transgressed any limits on reporting or filming and thus interfered with security operations or undermined public safety.

Police officers carrying out their legitimate duties in public and doing so professionally should not panic over the filming of their activities even by non-journalist citizens. If police officers who are filmed are convinced that the filming breaks any law, we expect them to follow due process and not resort to the arbitrary use of force.

Journalists have sensitive material on their phones, including possibly, details about their sources. It is therefore an invasion of their privacy to seize and search their phones. activities. We, therefore, urge the police to negotiate with the journalists when such filming occurs rather than abuse their authority. We also call on the leadership of the defense and security services in West Africa to call to order their agents who attack journalists and seize or destroy their equipment. They must publicly prohibit all security and defense forces from arbitrarily seizing or destroying the equipment of journalists.

Apart from the fear of being filmed while they are using excessive force to overpower civilians, especially during riot control or crackdown on demonstrations or being caught in an unguarded moment, security forces often bear grudges against journalists and the media generally when critical reports are made about them. Consequently, they take advantage of every opportunity to vent their spleen on media practitioners who come their way.

It is the same with political party affiliates who assault journalists. The assailants of the Pure FM and Ghanaweb.com journalists during Ghana’s December 2020 elections accused the media houses for which their victims work of being biased against their political party.

In view of this, the MFWA urges political parties to educate their supporters on the role of the media and the importance of its work, and the need for them to desist from attacking the media. More importantly, political parties must demonstrate their abhorrence of all hostilities against the media by condemning their supporters or members who attack journalists and cooperate with the authorities to prosecute such culprits.

Empower, Support and Defend: MFWA’s Approach for Boosting Accountability Journalism in West Africa

Kwaku Asante
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Empower, Support and Defend: MFWA’s Approach for Boosting Accountability Journalism in West Africa

Across West Africa, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has worsened pre-pandemic problems of poverty, inequality, and lack of access to basic public goods and services among the majority of people.

Apart from the loss of several lives to the pandemic, the collapse of businesses has devastated many. These effects of the pandemic are certainly not unique to West Africa. But giving pre-pandemic economic, humanitarian, and security fragilities in the region, the case of West African is somewhat unique.

There is no doubt that, as is the case around the world, economies in West Africa have been profoundly impacted.  But at the same time, the pandemic brought about unprecedented funding inflows from aid agencies and donors to nations in the region. Besides, all countries responded with more borrowing and the use of national reserves in unprecedented ways.

In April 2020 for example, the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved $1billion to Ghana; $3.4billion to Nigeria; $886million to Cote d’Ivoire, and $442million to Senegal to support COVID-19 efforts in the countries. Nearly all countries in the region received similar significant support from the IMF alongside other substantial support from the World Bank and other institutions.

There were also significant aid and credit facilities from wealthy nations and their institutions. Corporate organisations and wealthy individuals chipped in to support countries in the region to help deal with the pandemic and its effects on lives and livelihoods.

Despite these inflows and the net effect of astronomical national debts and increased burden on future generations, the monies are gone, the problems have stayed and the masses remain helpless.

The question to ask is: how have countries utilised their COVID-19 aid and loan funds to the benefit of their people? How are governments in the region going to make sure the vast natural resource endowment of their nations will be managed to benefit all in the post-COVID recovery process? So far, these questions are not being posed forcefully and, expectedly, no answers are being provided.

Despite the lack of accountability for COVID-related aid and loans, governments have begun blaming literally every problem including the impacts of Pre-COVID economic mismanagement and corruption on COVID-19.  New harsh measures including fresh taxes are being imposed in the name of post-COVID rebuilding and reconstruction. In Ghana, for example, the government has announced a 1% Covid-19 health levy on VAT and a 1% increase in the country’s health insurance levy. These measures will further worsen the plight of the poor masses.

There certainly cannot be a better time to demand and insist on transparency and accountability on the part of governments. It is time for governments in West Africa to let their people know how they spent and will spend monies contracted or received through loans and aid. And how they have used and will exploit resources generated through taxes and public resources before, during, and after the pandemic.

A major tool that can be utilised to ensure increased transparency and accountability among governments is Right to Information (RTI) Laws. Fortunately, more than half of the countries in the region (Liberia, Sierra Leone, Togo, Cote d’Ivoire, Nigeria, Niger, Guinea, Ghana, and Burkina Faso) have RTI laws, which are intended to enhance transparency and accountability in governance.

These laws present a great opportunity for effective investigative journalism and accountability reporting.  However, due to a number of constrictions, journalists in the region have largely been unable to effectively utilise the laws for the type of critical reporting that enhances transparency and advances accountability in governance.

The factors that limit the use of RTI laws for investigative journalism in the region have mainly included limited understanding of the laws and how to utilise them on the part of journalists. There is also the problem of frequent arbitrary refusal by public institutions to grant access to information requests by journalists. When such refusals occur, journalists are often left helpless as they and their organisations are usually unable to afford the costs of pursuing legal challenges and litigation.

The Media Foundation for West Africa is responding to the challenge. We are responding with three interlinked critical actions – Empowerment, Support, and Defence – for journalists.

Empowerment: To be effective in utilising RTI Laws for accountability reporting, journalists must have a better understanding of the RTI laws of their respective countries. Beyond understanding the laws, journalists need to have the skills and understanding of how to use the laws to do the kind of reporting that advances transparency and accountability. Thus, the empowerment component of our initiative involves a number of knowledge-sharing and capacity-building interventions. First, we are producing simplified, plain-language manuals (guide books) on the various RTI laws such as this guide on Ghana’s RTI law, that can be quickly read and easily understood by journalists. Then we are having in-depth, hands-on capacity development workshops for investigative journalists led by legal experts and experienced investigative journalists.

Support: It takes resources to do great journalism. The majority of newsrooms in the region are often unable to find the resources to cover basic costs for data, travel expenses, research among others that are often associated with doing great investigative reporting. To help deal with this challenge, we are offering funding support to cover the costs associated with the production of accountability stories. Besides, we also engage experienced investigative journalists who serve as mentors to beneficiaries of our investigative reporting micro-grants throughout the development of their stories.

Defend: We anticipate challenges with arbitrary denial or refusal to grant access to information requests filed by journalists. We are offering the necessary support including support for litigation that helps journalists enforce their rights of access to public information. Also, a major emerging threat to critical journalism in West Africa is the resort to physical attacks, harassment, and legal threats and suits (SLAPP) to censor and deter reporting that often exposes corruption and other wrongdoings. Journalists are often left defenceless and vulnerable. Under our initiative, we are, through the support of public-interest lawyers and with our network of international partners, offering legal defence to journalists in the region. We particularly support those who are targeted because of their critical reporting online or offline, that exposes corruption and advances accountability.

Besides all these, we have ramped up our press freedom monitoring, reporting, and advocacy across the region. And have set up an internal accountability journalism project that will be unveiled in the coming weeks.

We look forward to making journalism impact the lives of the people of West Africa positively as we empower, support, and defend journalists across the region.

MFWA Sues Media Regulator Over Right to Information Request on Shutdown of Radio Stations

Kwaku Asante
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MFWA Sues Media Regulator Over Right to Information Request on Shutdown of Radio Stations

In what may be the first Court case since the coming into force of Ghana’s Right to Information (RTI) Law, the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) has filed a suit at an Accra High Court against Ghana’s media frequency regulator, National Communications Authority (NCA).

On July 22, 2020, the MFWA, through its Executive Director, Sulemana Braimah, submitted an access to information request to the NCA, in exercise of rights guaranteed under Article 21(1)(f) of Ghana’s 1992 Constitution and under Ghana’s Right to Information Act, 2019 (Act 989).

The MFWA had requested from the NCA the full list of all FM radio stations (indicating name of company, name of radio station, location, and frequency number) that it had shut down following the Authority’s 2017 FM spectrum audit which, according to the NCA, was in line with the 2018 decision of the Electronic Communications Tribunal.

The MFWA had also requested for the full list of all authorised FM stations as of the second quarter of 2020, with indications of the dates of first authorisation, dates of last authorisation renewals, locations, and operational status of the radio stations – that is whether they are on air or off-air.

The MFWA further wanted to know reasons why the NCA made changes to exclude certain information from its published 2020 second-quarter report titled: “List of Authorised VHF-FM Radio Stations in Ghana as at Second Quarter 2020,” compared with other similar reports previously issued by the Authority.

After acknowledging the MFWA’s letter, the NCA did not provide the requested information within the statutory 14 days, prompting the former to send a follow-up letter on August 18, 2020.

Subsequently, the media regulator wrote two letters in reply. In the first letter, it indicated that the Authority was not going to provide explanations for the changes it had made to its report. In the second letter, the regulator asked the MFWA to pay GHC 2,000 (USD 345) to enable it generate the requested information. It said it based its action on its law, the Electronic Communications Act.

Convinced that the amount the NCA is demanding is prohibitive and liable to set a bad precedent, and a breach of the fundamental right to access information, the MFWA decided to file a suit, but this was after an appeal for a second look through its lawyers was ignored by the NCA.

The MFWA averred in the suit that the NCA had acted “unconscionably, unjustifiably, unreasonably, unfairly and arbitrarily and in breach of specific provisions of Act 989 complained about in the suit”.

 Consequently, the MFWA is praying the Court for the following reliefs;

  1. A declaration that the decision and demand by Respondent contained in its letters dated 29th July 2020 and 20th August, 2020 complained about are unlawful, unreasonable, unfair, and in violation of Applicant’s constitutional and fundamental right to access information.
  2. A declaration that the amount of GHC 2,000 demanded by Respondent from the Applicant in order to generate the information constitutes constructive denial, refusal, failure or neglect, and breach of Applicant’s right to information under Article 21(1) (f) of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana
  3. A declaration that the amount demanded is not only unlawful but unconscionably exorbitant in breach of the letter and spirit of Act 989 and Applicant’s fundamental rights to information
  4. A declaration that the information requested by the Applicant is not subjected to a charge/fee; or in the alternative,
  5. A declaration that if Applicant were liable to a charge/fee, same ought to be an ascertainable amount to cover the actual cost of reproduction or photocopy of the information sought only.

The MFWA is also seeking an Order of the Court in enforcing its rights to information under Article 21(1) (f) of the Constitution by compelling Respondent to provide the information requested.

The case, which was filed on 27th November, 2020 was scheduled to be heard for the first time today (15th March, 2020) but adjourned to 31st March 2021 as the Human Rights Court 1 did not sit today.

Over Four Months after, Nigerian Authorities Yet to Account for Journalist Pelumi Onifade’s Murder

Kwaku Asante
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Over Four Months after, Nigerian Authorities Yet to Account for Journalist Pelumi Onifade’s Murder

Today is exactly 138 days (over four months) since Pelumi Onifade was last seen alive, but the Nigerian authorities are yet to bring to account those responsible for the young journalist’s murder. His family, school mates and media colleagues are yet to recover from the shock of his brutal death, their sense of grief made more poignant by the silence of those who are to act to unravel the killing and help bring closure to the matter.

On October 24, 2020, Onifade, who was covering the #EndSARS protests for Gboah TV, an online television channel, was attacked by security officers and carried away alongside a mob arrested by the Lagos State Task Force for exploiting the protests to loot a COVID-19 relief facility. About a week later, the body of the student journalist was found in a mortuary in Ikorodu Lagos. His family lawyer said his body had bullet wounds.

Onifade was a 200-level student of the Department of History at Tai Solarin University of Education, Ogun State, and an intern at Gboah TV .

His assailants were members of the security task force that had been deployed to clamp down on hoodlums who had infiltrated the protesters and looting relief items stored in a warehouse at the Agege area of Lagos. Even after identifying himself as a journalist, he was brutalised by the security officers and dragged away alongside dozens of the miscreants during a deadly clash between the task force and the hoodlums.

Onifade reportedly died in police custody from the injuries he sustained from the severe beatings and his body deposited at the mortuary with the news of his death withheld from his family members.

It took five days of search of police stations and prisons by Onifade’s family members and employers before they received information that his corpse was at a mortuary at Ikorodu, Lagos.

The young journalist’s death generated outrage as thousands of Nigerians poured out their emotions on social media with the hashtag #JusticeforPelumi.

“Pelumi Onifade was 20 years old! We have lost another promising Nigerian youth…due to recklessness and a lack of value for human lives. Nobody has been held accountable till this very moment. How safe are we in Nigeria?” a popular comedian and #EndSARS campaigner, Debo Adedayo, tweeted in November 2020.

“No justice has been got for my son. The authorities have not done anything,” the journalist’s mother, Bose, in an emotion-laden voice, told MFWA on the phone. “I am still in distress,” she added. “No compensation has also been paid to the family.”

The #EndSARS protests were against the human rights abuse of the now-disbanded Special Anti-Robbery Squad of the Nigeria Police.

The #EndSARS protests, which garnered international attention, came to a head on October 20 when soldiers reportedly fired at several unarmed demonstrators at the Lekki tollgate in Lagos, killing many. After the youths demanded justice for all victims of police brutality, the Lagos State Judicial Panel of Inquiry was set up to investigate all cases of abuse.

The spokesperson for the Lagos police command, Muyiwa Adejobi, said Onifade’s death was among those investigated by the panel.

“I can’t speak on it since the matter is with the panel,” Adejobi told the MFWA. The panel has not responded to enquiries by the MFWA.

Onifade’s colleagues at Tai Solarin University of Education are equally in shock and demanding justice.

“We are demanding an explanation of what happened to our colleague,” said Abdulazeez Soneye, the President of the Student Union Government.

An official with a Lagos group, the Education Rights Concern, Daniel Abayomi, called on the panel of inquiry to ensure justice prevails in Pelumi Onifade’s case.

“It has been over four months since his death, yet no one has been punished. This is unfair to the family of the journalist,” Abayomi told the MFWA via phone.

The Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism had in an email demanded an end to impunity against journalists in Nigeria and globally.

“The rate of killings and the motives behind them are constant reminders that violence against journalists is still rampant and failure to combat impunity against journalists is an indictment on the authorities,” the Centre said.

Meanwhile, this was not the first time Nigerian journalists were murdered in similar circumstances.

Precious Owolabi, a 23-year-old journalist for Channels TV, was on July 22, 2019, reportedly hit by a stray bullet while covering the shooting of members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria by the security forces in Abuja.

Owolabi later died in the hospital, and according to the Nigeria Union of Journalists, no one has been brought to account for his murder.

Alexander Ogbu, a reporter and editor of Regent Africa Times, also died from head injuries sustained after being hit by a bullet during a crackdown on a protest by the Islamic Movement of Nigeria on January 21, 2020, in Abuja.

The autopsy conducted on his remains revealed that Ogbu, who was 50 at the time, died as a result of brain evisceration.

The Media Foundation for West Africa joins the family and friends of Pelumi Onifade, and the media fraternity in Nigeria to demand justice for the slain journalist. The Nigerian authorities should be alarmed at the rate at which the security force’s crackdown on protests has been resulting in the killing of civilians including journalists on duty.

It is a blot on Nigeria’s press freedom and general human rights record that in almost all the cases, no conclusive investigations have been carried out, much less prosecution of the culprits.

We call for thorough investigations into the death of the journalist and justice for his grieving family and friends.

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