The Executive Director, African Center for Media and Information Literacy (AFRICMIL), has said Nigeria under President Muhammad Buhari is fast becoming a fascist state, where freedom of speech and free press are no longer tolerated.
He made the statement at the 14th Wole Soyinka Award for Investigate Reporting held yesterday at NECA House, Ikeja, Lagos.
Onumah lamented that the press and civil society groups, which are the only organs that challenge the government and hold it accountable are under serious attack under the current administration.
He said last week’s invasion of the court by the men of the Department of State Security (DSS) in a bid to rearrest Omoyele Sowore was a classical example of what Nigeria has become under Buhari.
“The first sign that rule of law and freedom of speech are in trouble was when Buhari appeared at the annual conference of the Nigeria Bar Association and said that national interest would be placed above the rule of law,” he stated.
He called on Nigeria to stand up and resist what he termed attack on the last bastion of democracy, even as he called for the immediate release of Sowore, Olawale Bakare, Agba Jalingo and other Nigerians unjustly in detention as the only way the current government could enjoy any kind of legitimacy.
Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana also called on the Wole Soyinka Center for Investigative Journalism to follow up on some of the wonderful stories that made this year’s entry for the award.
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Falana lamented that the current government feeds Nigerians with lies, saying it is a serious matter for government to lie.
He specifically decried the action of the DSS in court last week and the effrontery to deny that it didn’t apologize to the Judge. He insisted that the DSS sent a delegation to apologize to the Judge yesterday afternoon over what happened in court last week.
He also questioned those who believed the DSS story that the attack in the court was carried out by Shower’s friends, saying, “Assuming Sowore’s friends stage managed the attack, what did the DSS do to arrest them and save Sowore.”
Insinle Ibanga of the Next Editor Magazine emerged winner as the WSCIJ Investigative Reporter of the Year. He also emerged the winner in the Online category while Samson Folarin emerged the winner in the print category.
Albert Ohams of the Sun Newspapers got a commendation in the editorial cartoon category while Chinwe Agbeze also of the Sun Newspapers clinched the running up with N50,000 cash prize at the event.
THE SUN, NIGERIA