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The news of the arrest and account freezing of Mr. Samuel Ogundipe on
Tuesday 14 th of August 2018 is an appalling narrative in a democratic
dispensation. Samuel Ogundipe in the exercise of his duty as a journalist
broke news pertaining to the invasion of the National Assembly by the
officers and men of the State Security Services and insisted on maintaining
the confidentiality of his source in accordance with Article 4 of the Code of
Ethics for Nigerian Journalist which is made pursuant to Section 9 of the
Nigerian Press Council Act (CAP N128 LFN 2004). Having accused him of
many unfounded allegations, the officers of the Nigerian police proceeded
to arrest him.
Nigeria like every other nation of the world has laws regulating its affairs
and these laws ought to be respected and complied with by Agencies of
Government in carrying out their activities. Unfortunately, just like in
Banana republic, it appears that the Nigerian police force has no regard for
the rights of Citizens as enshrined in the Constitution. The Constitution of
the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) being the grundnorm
has stated in its Section 39 that;
(1) “Every person shall be entitled to freedom of expression including
freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impact ideas and information
without interference.”
The arrest of Samuel Ogundipe is utterly condemnable and should not be
entertained in a democratic regime. To me, it appears we are having a
repeat of the effect of Decree No 4 of 1984 where Nigerians could not voice
out their opinions and beliefs. With the current state of the polity in Nigeria,
journalists can no longer do their jobs without fear of arrest and
incarceration.
Therefore, in agreement with other patriotic Nigerians, I condemn in the
strongest terms the lawless, unreasonable and barbaric act of the Nigerian
Police in trying to muzzle Mr. Samuel Ogundipe whose only offence was
being a journalist and in line with Section 35 of the Constitution he should
be released with immediate effect and adequately compensated by the
Nigerian Police Force.
