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International Day To End Impunity For Crimes Against Journalists: EU Reveals 44 Journalists Killed In 2021
Published
4 years agoon
By
Editor
…150 Press Freedom Violations, Attacks Recorded In 4 Years – IPC Alleges
As Nigeria joins rest of the world to mark 2021 International Day to End the Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists, the European Union, EU, Tuesday, revealed 44 journalists killed in 2021.
This was made known by EU Delegation Representative, Wynyfred Egbuson, during a media roundtable with theme ‘Countering threats of violence against Journalists in Nigeria: The role of CSOs and other non-state actors’ to commemorate the Day in Abuja.
Egbuson said: “UNESCO has reported an increasing number of attacks and threats against journalists. 44 journalists have so far been killed in 2021, many more are attacked, unlawfully imprisoned, or missing leaving their families awaiting news of their faith, sometimes for years.
“We also see more attempts to cut the space for free media around the world by systemically undermining their credibility.”
She also said the media coming under attacks from state and non-state actors does not portray any nation in good light, and that EU will continue to stand for free press.
She pointed that such attacks are serious violation of human rights, and also perpetrators deprive citizens’ rights to information.
Earlier, in an his welcome address, Executive Director, International Press Centre, IPC, Lanre Arogundade, disclosed that through monitoring and advocacy activities in the last 4 years (2016-2020) on press freedom and safety of journalists, a total of 150 press freedom violations and attacks were recorded in Nigeria.
“And as we mark year 2021 IDEI, the whereabouts of Vanguard journalist and reporter in the House of Representatives, Tordue Salem, remains worrisomely unknown.
READ ALSO: NUJ Condemns EFCC Invasion Of Journalist’s Home
“This year alone, several acts of violence have been perpetrated on journalists and media professionals in the country with the most recent resulting from the #EndSARS one year anniversary protest in October”, he stated.
He also called for urgent collaborative intervention necessary between the media, the CSOs and other non-state actors to develop an Action Plan on defending press freedom and engaging state institutions.
“It is against this background that an urgent collaborative intervention is necessary between the media, the CSOs and other non-state actors to develop an Action Plan on defending press freedom and engaging state institutions including the security agencies to prevent further violence against journalists, other media professionals and media workers.
“Such collaboration is also necessary to ensure accountability by bringing to justice the perpetrators of crimes against journalists and media workers while ensuring that victims have access to appropriate remedies.
“The collaboration should also promote a safe and enabling environment for journalists to practice without threats.
“When the media profession is faced with threats including physical attacks, arrests, imprisonment, kidnapping, torture, murder, censorship online/offline, etc., a climate of fear envelopes the media landscape and the free flow of credible information is hindered”, he added.
Also speaking the National President, Nigerian Union of Journalists, NUJ, Chris Isiguzo, lamented the treatment journalists are given, especially by security agencies.
Isiguzo said: “Threats and violence against media practice is ion the increase, increase based on repression.
“As we speak for 20 days a journalist has gone missing and the government seems not worried. It is worrisome, and a responsible government must know that its primary responsibility of governance is to ensure security of lives and property.
“If the people that you are presiding over are no longer safe that means there is problem, and you must have to find a way of addressing them.
“The same time we take the security agents task because often times they seem to seeing journalists as competitors. We are not competitors, rather collaborators because when we collaborate, the nation benefits but when we compete, the nation suffers.
“I want to appeal to them let them begin to see journalists as partners in progress, especially at this critical time when insecurity has practically become the issue across the country, and rise to the occasion to deal with these competing issues so that we can map out a way forward for Nigeria and democracy.”
According to him, last year was 62, and between 2006 and 2020, 1,200, and Nigeria has an appreciable percentage of it, which also signpost the very harrowing terrible, unfriendly environment journalists operate.
“Somebody even said the present President of Nigeria as military leader was even much benevolent when you do a comparative analysis of then and now, and it simply means democracy itself is in danger if nothing is urgently done to check this rising wave.
READ ALSO: NUJ To Partner French Language Teachers In Nation Building
“By the time we bring these issues to the fore it will be an opportunity to challenge government because we cannot have democracy that thrives whose press is not guaranteed when journalists are every day being harassed, intimidated, kidnapped, killed, and incarcerated, there is no democracy.”
He also expressed concern over the current environment journalists work in as it is no more conducive and a threat to democracy in Nigeria.
“As we speak for 20 days a journalist has gone missing and the government seems not worried. It is worrisome, and a responsible government must know that its primary responsibility of governance is to ensure security of lives and property.
“If the people that you are presiding over are no longer safe that means there is problem, and you must have to find a way of addressing them”, he pointed.
He also called on security agencies to collaborate with journalists and see them as partners in progress.
“The same time we take the security agents task because often times they seem to seeing journalists as competitors. We are not competitors, rather collaborators because when we collaborate, the nation benefits but when we compete, the nation suffers.
“I want to appeal to them let them begin to see journalists as partners in progress, especially at this critical time when insecurity has practically become the issue across the country, and rise to the occasion to deal with these competing issues so that we can map out a way forward for Nigeria and democracy”, he said.
(VANGUARD)
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Headline
Leader Of UK Christian Group Convicted Of Sexually Abusing Women
Published
8 hours agoon
August 23, 2025By
Editor
Chris Brain, 68, the leader of a UK Christian group once backed by the Church of England, has been convicted of sexually abusing nine women in his congregation.
A jury delivered the final verdicts on Thursday.
Brain led the Nine O’Clock Service, an evangelical movement in Sheffield during the 1980s and 1990s. The group was known for its nightclub-style worship, held at 9 p.m. on Sundays, which included live music and drew large crowds of young people.
Prosecutors said Brain used his authority to control members of the congregation, isolating them from family and friends, and used his position to commit sexual assaults. He also maintained a group of young women known as the “lycra nuns” who assisted him, his wife, and his daughter at home, prosecutor Tim Clark told the court.
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The leader of the UK Christian group was charged with 36 counts of indecent assault and one count of rape involving 13 women between 1981 and 1995. He denied the charges, claiming any sexual contact was consensual.
Following a trial at Inner London Crown Court, he was convicted of 17 counts of indecent assault against nine women. He was acquitted of 15 other charges, while the jury could not reach a verdict on four additional indecent assault charges and the rape allegation. The Crown Prosecution Service said it would “carefully consider” whether to seek a retrial.
The Nine O’Clock Service had received approval from the Church of England. In 1990, the Archbishop of Canterbury-elect George Carey met with Brain to discuss his methods, and his ordination was expedited. Prosecutors said the group even spent heavily to purchase the costume worn by Robert De Niro in the 1986 film The Mission for his ceremony.
READ ALSO:Russia Returns Bodies Of 1,000 Ukrainian Soldiers
Brain resigned shortly before a BBC documentary aired in 1995, accusing him of inappropriate sexual behaviour. Carey later said he was “crushed and let down” when the allegations became public.
In court, Brain admitted to receiving massages from congregation members that sometimes became sexual but denied manipulating or controlling them.
Bishop of Sheffield Pete Wilcox said in a statement: “What happened was an appalling abuse of power and leadership that should never have occurred. Where concerns were raised in the past and were not acted upon properly, that was a failing of the Church. For those institutional failures, I offer an unreserved apology.”
Headline
Russia Claims More Ukraine Land As Hopes For Summit Fade
Published
8 hours agoon
August 23, 2025By
Editor
Russia on Saturday said its forces had taken two villages in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region, increasing the military pressure as world leaders struggle to broker an end to the conflict.
South Africa added its voice to those calling for a summit between Ukraine and Russia.
Russian forces are slowly advancing in the embattled eastern region of Donetsk, grinding closer to Kyiv’s key defensive line in costly metre-for-metre battles.
Moscow’s defence ministry said on Telegram that its forces had captured the villages of Sredneye and Kleban-Byk.
The taking of Kleban-Byk would mark a further advance towards Kostiantynivka — a key fortified town on the road to Kramatorsk, where a major Ukrainian logistics base is located.
READ ALSO:Top Russian General Seriously Wounded In Ukraine – Officials
On Friday, Russia said its troops had captured three villages in the Donetsk region it claimed to have annexed in September 2022.
On Saturday, Ukrainian military officials said its forces had stopped a Russian advance and recaptured the village of Zeleny Gai in the Donetsk region in a post to Telegram.
In July, Russia claimed the capture of the village, on the border with Dnipropetrovsk, adding that it was an important stronghold used by Ukraine to protect the area.
– Ramaphosa backs summit –
The latest Russian advances come as hopes dim for a summit between Russian and Ukrainian presidents — a solution championed by US President Donald Trump as part of his efforts to end the conflict.
READ ALSO:Russian Politicians Mock European Leaders After White House, Ukraine Talks
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Saturday added his voice to calls for a Russia-Ukraine summit during a telephone conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
“President Ramaphosa stressed the urgency of holding bilateral and trilateral meetings between the leaders of Russia and Ukraine and the United States as key to signal a firm commitment to ending the war,” said a statement from his office.
Ramaphosa, who currently chairs the G20, also spoke with French President Emmanuel Macron and Finnish President Alexander Stubb, the statement added. He will speak with other European leaders in the coming weeks.
Ramaphosa spoke on Monday with Vladimir Putin, whom he described in October at the BRICS summit as a “dear ally” and a “valued friend”.
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However, for the first time since Russia’s attack on Ukraine, South Africa earlier this year backed a UN resolution declaring that Russia had launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Zelensky said he had told Ramaphosa he was ready for any kind of meeting with Putin.
“However, we see that Moscow is once again trying to drag everything out even further,” he said on X.
He called on the Global South to send “relevant signals and (push) Russia toward peace”.
On Friday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said “no meeting” was planned as Trump’s mediation efforts appeared to stall, while Zelensky accused Russia of trying to prolong the offensive.
AFP
Headline
US Suspends Work Visas For Nigerian, Foreign Truck Drivers
Published
21 hours agoon
August 23, 2025By
Editor
The United States government has suspended the issuance of work visas for Nigerian and other foreign truck drivers, citing job security concerns and safety risks for American citizens.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the decision on Thursday, saying it takes immediate effect.
According to him, the rising number of foreign truck drivers on U.S. highways is both threatening lives and reducing opportunities for American truckers.
READ ALSO:JUST IN: US Visa Restrictions On ECOWAS Countries Threaten Regional Prosperity — FG
“Effective immediately, we are pausing all issuance of worker visas for commercial truck drivers.
“The increasing number of foreign drivers operating large tractor-trailer trucks on U.S. roads is endangering American lives and undercutting the livelihoods of American truckers,” Rubio said.
The move comes under President Donald Trump’s renewed clampdown on immigration since returning to office in January 2025.
READ ALSO:US Visa Adjudication Sparks Concerns Over Diplomatic Relations
As part of new measures, travellers from countries with high visa overstay rates or weak travel databases will be required to pay a bond of $5,000 to $15,000 before obtaining certain categories of visas.
The U.S. Embassy in Nigeria also directed all visa applicants to disclose their social media handles from the past five years, warning that failure to comply could result in denial of applications and possible ineligibility for future visas.
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