GOVERNMENT USE OF EXTRAL LEGAL MEASURES AGAINST MEDIA PRACTITIONERS A CASE STUDY OF SANI ABACHA REGIME
TABLE OF CONTENT
CHAPTER ONE
Background of the Study
Statement of the Problem
Objective of the study
Significance of the study
Research questions
Research hypothesis
Definition of terms
Assumptions
Limitation of the study
CHAPTER TWO
Literature Review
CHAPTER THREE
Methodology
Research design
Research sample
Measuring instrument
Data collection
Data analysis
CHAPTER FOUR
Data analysis
CHAPTER FIVE
Summary and Recommendation
References
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
The media as the watchdog of the society eliminates its light on the society not for getting its responsibility of entertainment, information and educating its audience as to keep them abreast of the dynamism of the world, condemning the ills of the government and the governed, all geared towards a better society.
Media practitioners by implication cover all the people who are trained in the art of journalism and work in radio and television station, newspapers and magazines and other medium through which people get informed. The concept of the media developed right from the time the printing press was invented five centuries ago. The invention revolutionized man’s ability to communicate ideas and information. But from that time, there was always this desire of those who had control of political authority/power to create barriers against the free flow of ideas and information, which they believe could threaten their rule.
Press freedom as a concept of libertarian philosophy is always assailed by those who use quo maintained, hence, use of extract legal measures against media practitioners, which was colossal during military era. For media practitioners to carry out their duties effectively and efficiently, they should be granted certain degrees of freedom hence absolute freedom is unattainable. Media practitioners in trying to meet with its expected roles have encountered great unhealthy confrontation ranging from harassment, intimidation, and deterioration to censorship, which is more pronounced during military dictatorship.
This work is restricted to late general Sani Abacha military jilts who revealed in gagging and muzzling the media using state securing apparatus despite the fact that modern constitution endeavours to safeguard basis freedom which the military had always defied, flouted, suppressed add violated with impurity. This government use of extract legal measures against media practitioners can be traced back to the infamous decree. No 4 as promulgated by general Buhari (ltd) in 1984, which endeavoured to strangle press freedom. The Decree becomes the sword of Damocles of dangling over the head of every journalist. Of course, the two of Nduka Irabor and Tunde Thompson were detained for violating the infamous Decree No 4 otherwise known as “the Public officers protection from false Accusation” Decree 1984 for publishing about changes in Nigeria High Commissioner in Britain who is to be withdrawn and replaced by Rtd General Hannaniya. They refused to divulge the source of their information. They were later charged to court, tried and convicted under the provisions of the Decree on April 1984. They were jailed for 18 months.
In 1995, the quarter of Mrs. Chris Anyanwu, Kunse Agibade, George Mba and Ben Charles Obi were detained in different prisons across the country on 15 year jail sentence each by a special military tribunal headed by Brigadier General Patrick Aziza for allege coup plot which has to do with reports carried by their magazines on the alleged Coll Groadabe coup of 1995. In another development, security agents swooped on Onome Osit-Whiskey and whistled him away on November 9, 1997 with his colleagues at Tell headquarters at the mercy of invading security agents who had come for the previous week edition of the magazine which was titled why Abacha won’t hand over’ Tell premises was sealed off and the staff who were around beat a hasty retreat. Thinking that a parted delivery van continued he magazine in question the operative brought in a tow-van and forcefully removed it to their operational base.
In February 14, 1994, Newswatch magazine carried news on the drug war and in March 7, Newswatch reported the trial of the suspect which unveiled the deify delays in drug agency, tribunal and justice ministry. After this report, the aggrieved tribunal judge Fumilayo Oni-Okpaku tried and detained Newswatch editors for contempt. Following this incident on April 12, 1994, the sledgehammer fell on Newswatch against government descended on the magazine arresting its editors and charges them to court for an interview published by the magazine. The subsequent trial of the accused persons did not seem to meet internationally recognized standard of fairness as a result of articles they had published concerning the alleged coup and other stories. Military dictators have maintained unabated posture in trying to gag the press like laying siege at media houses like Tell Newswatch and the news just to mention but a few. The apogee of proscription and champ down on the press took place in August 1994 Acholonu (1999:30) was I line with his observation when he maintained that the zenith f the champ down on the press was the outright proscription in August 1994, of the National concord, the Punch and the Guardian group of news paper by three retroactive decrees. They were captioned. The Concord Newspaper and African concord weekly magazine (proscription and prohibition from circulation) Decree No 80. The proscribed papers were considered two critical of the ruling Junta, especially during the renewed struggle by port democracy forces to undermine military rule.
Journalists have always had the onerous duty of acting as the conscience of the nation, the watchdog of the society, defenders of the rights of the citizens and the promoters of justice and fairness. In the process of doing this, they often fail under the sledge hammer of government, especially, that which is run by a military tyrant- The type of military dictatorship which bestrode upon Nigeria for decades since independence, like colossus, startled every right-thinking person. Regimes upon regimes inflicted upon the citizenry the pains of authoritarianism and gagged the press with merciless brutality. But these successive military only successes in “killing the messenger and not the massage”.
The study knowing the harsh treatment media practitioners faced during the Abacha junta, and how the press was gagged and muzzled intends to x-ray how the regime disregarded the tenets of free press, which is geared informed and then watchdog the society. It will be germane to know that social responsibility will be defeated the government continues to muzzle and gap the press. Ti should be highlighted here that press has always found the environment unfriendly under military rule due to its extreme control and censorship which hampers free press. The harsh conditions under which media practitioners work have not deferred them, though in some cases they had to be detained, arrested, harassed and coped of Newspapers and magazines confiscated which the junta feels their contents are unpalatable to the state and its agents. The work tries to find out how late General Sani Abacha junta used state security paraphernalia and other extra legal measures to muzzles the press as to get her pander to its whims and caprices which could not dampen the spirit and courage of the media in its surveillance and watchdog role as to entrench egalitarian and corrupt free society.
The press has been described as the fourth Estate of the realm. Because of full and accurate information no matters of public interest is the means by which governments, institutions, organization and all others in authority at whatever, level, are held responsible to the public. But, often, we fine that those in authority tend to conceal that which is inconvenient or likely to arouse public opinion against them. Given the financial and political shenanigans that transpired during General Abacha days and the ordeal media practitioners went through the period under review which culminated into detention, arrest, harassment, post-censorship and subsequent closure of some media houses at different time, one decided to dabble into this heart-rendering topic in order to bring to the fore, the horrendous and harrowing experience journalists under went during the dare days of dark-goggled Abacha.
This work is also meant to unravel some of the extra judicial arrest and detention that were visited on journalists in the course of carrying out their duties.
Based on the terrain in which media practitioners operate under military dictatorship, this highly instructive work is aimed to enlighten mass communication students and generating of the citizenry to gain secondary knowledge of how journalists were harassed, intimidated, detained, brutalized and victimized under the draconian reign of Late General Abacha, as it will give an uninformed mind and insight about the hazards of journalism.
This study is expedient as it will help Nigerian journalist, Non governmental organisms (NGOS) to look back at the inglorious past, present environment under which journalists practice and crave towards ensuring a glorious and landable future.
This work will also help to evaluate critically and analyses the extent to which much talked about press freedom has thrived under military dictatorship and how unfriendly the environment was for media practitioner to practice.
Some sets of questions were outlined and were attempted to answer within the scope of the study. The under listed are the outline questions:
Hi: Ownership affects media content more in military junta.
Ho: Ownership affects media content more in a democratic
government.
H2: Repressive laws and Decrees are more under military
government.
Ho: Repressive laws are less in democratic government.
H3: there was much champ down and proscription of media houses during Abacha regime.
Ho: There was less champ down and proscription of media houses during Abacha regime.
In defining the terms, the study will give vivid explanation of press laws, extra judicial messure, media practitioners. These aforementioned terms will be given operational and conceptional definitions.
PRESS LAWS
Conceptional definition of press laws means those rules that media practitioners must obey and abide with in carrying out their journalistic practice.
Operational definition of press laws are the laws of deformation, libel, sedition, invasion of privacy, printing of obscence materials.
Extra judicial measures.
CONCEPTIONAL
These are those laws or measures that are not connected with a court of law or judicial process.
OPERATIONAL
These are measures like harassment intimidation, detention, proscription, post-censorship, trials in tribunals etc.
MEDIA PRACTITIONERS
CONCEPTIONAL
These are those trained in the art of gathering and dissemination of information through the medium of mass communication.
OPERATIONAL
These are Tell magazine, Newswatch, This Day, NTA, Radio Nigeria, Guardian etc.
There is this assumption that press should be as to have the right to write freely about government activities. Its agencies and other organizations through its publications and programmes.
It is also believed that repressive laws and extra judicial measures which retards journalistic practices used to be more pronounced during General Sani Abacha days of terror.
Above all, there is also this assumption that media ownership goes a long way in determining media contents.
In the course of writing this projects, the researcher encountered a lot of obstacles which coned have damaged the enthusiasm but he remained lentless and unruffled so that he coned put up a good academic research work.
Some difficulties encountered which can be recounted ranging from the inability of the researcher to get hold of those in charge at the regional officers of Tell magazine, Newswatch magazine, the News magazine and Guardian newspapers which made the researcher to spend reasonable amount visiting these offices. There were also cases where some of their looked in corporative and reluctant to assist.
Financial constraint restricted the researcher to Enugu, though the researcher had hoped to travel beyond Enugu for the research work. Academic work load back in school also retarded the pace of progress of this project that it had to be abandoned for several weeks so that assignment and quizzes could be given aadequate attention.
Lastly, the work in the department took a heavy toll on the research that the researcher gets home worn-out and finished without putting the project in his order of the day’s priority.
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