The Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Mr Abubakar Malami (SAN), has expressed Federal Government’s commitment towards ending impunity for crimes against journalists in the country.
Malami gave the assurance on Tuesday during a policy dialogue on protection of journalists to mark the 2021 International Day to end impunity for crimes against journalists.
The parley was organised by the Federal Ministry of Justice in conjunction with the European Union, and Managing Conflict in Nigeria Programme.
In his keynote address at the event, the AGF restated Federal Government’s laudable initiatives to end impunity and crimes against journalists.
He stressed that Nigeria operates a constitutional democracy that guarantees freedom of expression, thereby providing conducive atmosphere and veritable platforms that enable Nigerians to express their inalienable fundamental rights to unhindered ventilation of opinions.
The AGF said, “I am convinced that journalism is not a crime. Rather, there are apparent crimes committed by some people that claim to practice journalism. Journalists are not in any way targeted for witch-hunt.”
Malami also insisted that the Federal Government has provided an enabling environment for journalism to thrive and therefore appealed to journalists to desist from sensational reports that could threaten public peace.
He said, “I call on journalists to refrain from fake news, defamation, sedition, hate speech, blasphemy, incitement of inflammatory statements in their reportage that could jeopardize our cooperate existence as a nation and hamper the peace we have been enjoying. “National interest built on corporate existence needs to bind our patriotic engagement in advancing the interest of the nation”.
As the Chief-Law Officer of the country, the AGF said he is determined to uphold the constitutionally saddled responsibility of ensuring strict adherence to the rule of law and bringing to an end, the issue of impunity for crime in all ramifications.
The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Justice and Solicitor General of the Federation Mohammed Umar, also condemned all forms of crimes perpetrated against journalists in view of their roles in the “development of our fledgling democracy”.
“Journalists help in moulding opinion, they can effectively engage government in providing purposeful leadership, and that is why the FG is committed to ensuring safety of journalists,” Umar added.
The Vice Chancellor, Federal University, Gombe, Prof Umaru Pate, delivered the lead presentation on “Ending Impunity for Crimes against journalists in Nigeria” at the event.
