Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has condemned the clampdown on media
\nhouses, vendors and seizures of newspapers in transit for delivery by
\nmilitary personnel nationwide.<\/p>\n
In a press statement issued by his media office in Abuja on Saturday, the
\nformer Vice President expressed worry at what he called the \u201chumiliating
\ntreatment of media houses and vendors in the course of conducting their
\nlegitimate businesses nationwide.\u201d<\/p>\n
He reminded that Nigeria is a democracy, and freedom of the press is a
\nnon-negotiable component of democratic governments.<\/p>\n
According to Atiku, since the military is not above the law in any
\ndemocratic society, they should not be the law onto themselves and
\nrecklessly infringe on the rights of citizens.<\/p>\n
He explained that if the newspapers are engaged in any illegal activities
\nthat breach national security, there are avenues of dealing with such
\nsituation without brazenly violating the rights of citizens.<\/p>\n
The Turaki Adamawa said thousands of Journalists, drivers, distributors,
\nvendors and other support staff are daily making a living from the
\nnewspaper industry, and therefore, the military personnel should not stop
\nthem from earning a legitimate earning.<\/p>\n
The former Vice President also noted that the willful violations of
\ncitizens\u2019 rights by military and other security personnel breach the
\ntenets of democratic system.<\/p>\n
He warned that by attacking the press, and arresting journalists, the
\ncountry may inadvertently be slowing edging back to the dark days of
\nmilitary dictatorship, which took a lot of sacrifices by many including
\nthe Press to end.<\/p>\n
While condemning the excesses of the military, however, Atiku advised
\nmedia organizations to also demonstrate the highest degree of
\nresponsibility by ensuring that what they publish didn\u2019t endanger national
\nsecurity.<\/p>\n
In the face of the grim security challenges currently bedeviling Nigeria,
\nthe former Vice President also cautioned Journalists and media
\npractitioners against abuses.<\/p>\n
He stressed that the war on terror needs citizens\u2019 and press\u2019 cooperation,
\nwhich may be hampered by the harassment of the press.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe military and other security personnel should work harmoniously
\ntogether in times of national crises. Security require sacrifices and
\nunderstanding from all Nigerians, and the Press are no exception.<\/p>\n
“Our media men and women should at every turn, weigh the implications of
\neverything they intend to publish, especially sensitive stories that could
\nundermine national security,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has condemned the clampdown on media houses, vendors and seizures of newspapers in transit for delivery by military personnel nationwide. In a press statement issued…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":21230,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27654","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n