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The US-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has written to Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo expressing its concern over the recent arrest of the editor of a weekly magazine on charges of criminal defamation.
In the letter, dated 2 July, the CPJ said it was “greatly disturbed by the recent arrest and continuing prosecution of Nnamdi Onyenua.” On 8 June, CPJ said, armed police entered the offices of Millenium Communications which publishes the Lagos-based magazine ‘Glamour Trends’ and fired their guns to disperse employees. They then arrested Onyenua and drove him to the capital, Abuja, under heavy police escort.
His arrest resulted from an article entitled, ‘Secrets Behind Obasanjo’s Trips’, published on 6 June. It alleged that Obasanjo receives US $1 million in allowances for each overseas trip and, since his election in May 1999, has amassed some US $58 million. The CPJ urged Obasanjo to drop the charges against Onyenua and work towards the repeal of all laws that criminalise defamation and other press offences.
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions