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International Day To End Impunity For Crimes Against Journalists: EU Reveals 44 Journalists Killed In 2021

Published

4 years ago

November 2, 2021

…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.

“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.

“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.

“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.

(VANGUARD)

Headline

Africa Coups: 10 In Five Years

Published

1 day ago

December 7, 2025

Editor

A military coup attempt in Benin Sunday adds to a list of such incidents on the turbulent African continent.
A group of soldiers announced that they had ousted President Patrice Talon, although his entourage said he was safe and the army was regaining control.

Here is a recap of the 10 successful coups in Africa in the last five years:

Mali

Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita is overthrown by five army colonels in August 2020.

In May 2021, the Malian military takes over from the civilian leaders of an interim government.
Colonel Assimi Goita, who led both coups, is sworn in as transitional president.

After promising to hold elections in February 2024, the military puts them off indefinitely, pointing to the jihadist violence plaguing the country.

In July 2025, Goita approves a law granting himself a five-year presidential mandate, renewable without election.
In September jihadists launch a fuel blockade, weakening the ruling junta.

Guinea

On September 5, 2021, mutinous troops led by lieutenant-colonel Mamady Doumbouya take over in Guinea, arresting President Alpha Conde.

Doumbouya in early November 2025 submits his candidacy ahead of December 28 elections that are meant to restore constitutional order.

Sudan

After weeks of tension between the military and civilian leaders who had shared power since the ousting of dictator Omar al-Bashir, the armed forces led by army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan stage a new coup on October 25, 2021.

Since April 2023 war has raged between the regular armed forces led by Burhan and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, led by his former deputy Mohammed Hamdan Daglo.

The conflict has so far killed tens of thousands of people and created one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.

Burkina Faso

Burkina Faso underwent two military coups in 2022.

In January that year mutinous soldiers led by Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba arrest President Roch Marc Christian Kabore.

Then in September army officers announce they have dismissed Damiba. Captain Ibrahim Traore becomes transitional president, but elections he promised do not materialise. In May 2024 the junta authorises him to stay for another five years in a country wracked by Islamist violence.

Niger

On July 26, 2023, members of the presidential guard overthrow Niger’s President Mohamed Bazoum, elected in 2021. General Abdourahamane Tiani, head of the presidential guard, takes over.

In March 2025, the junta extends by at least five years its transitional leadership of the country which is plagued by jihadist violence.

Gabon

In Gabon, ruled for 55 years by the Bongo family, army officers on August 30, 2023 overthrow President Ali Bongo Ondimba, less than an hour after he is declared winner of an election the opposition says was fraudulent.
General Brice Oligui Nguema is named transitional president.

In April 2025 he is elected president with 94.85 percent of the vote. He is sworn in on the basis of a new constitution approved by referendum during the transition.

Madagascar

In October 2025, the military ousts Madagascar’s president Andry Rajoelina and takes power following weeks of “Gen Z” anti-government protests.

Army colonel Michael Randrianirina is sworn in as Madagascar’s new president, promising elections within 18 to 24 months.

Guinea-Bissau

In November 2025, military officers in Guinea-Bissau declare they have “total control” of the coup-prone west African country, closing its borders and suspending its electoral process three days after general elections.

The military says a command “composed of all branches of the armed forces” is taking over the leadership of the country “until further notice”.

Headline

Benin Republic Presidency Breaks Silence On ‘Military Takeover’

Published

1 day ago

December 7, 2025

Editor

Benin Republic military
Military personnel in Benin on Sunday said they had ousted President Patrice Talon, but the Presidency said he was safe and the army was regaining control.

Talon, 67, a former businessman known as the “cotton king of Cotonou,” is due to hand over power in April next year after 10 years in office marked by strong economic growth and rising jihadist violence.

West Africa has seen several coups in recent years, including in Niger, Burkina Faso, Mali, Guinea, and most recently Guinea-Bissau.

Early on Sunday, soldiers calling themselves the “Military Committee for Refoundation” (CMR) said on state television that they had met and decided that “Mr Patrice Talon is removed from office as president of the republic.”

The signal was cut later in the morning.

Shortly after the announcement, a source close to Talon told AFP the president was safe.

“This is a small group of people who only control the television. The regular army is regaining control. The city (Cotonou) and the country are completely secure,” they said.

“It’s just a matter of time before everything returns to normal. The clean-up is progressing well.”

A military source confirmed the situation was “under control” and said the coup plotters had not taken Talon’s residence or the presidential offices.

The French Embassy reported on X that “gunfire was reported at Camp Guezo” near the president’s official residence in the economic capital and urged French citizens to remain indoors.

Benin has a history of coups and attempted coups.

Talon, who came to power in 2016, is due to end his second term in 2026, the constitutional maximum.

The main opposition party has been excluded from the race to succeed him, leaving the ruling party to compete against a so-called “moderate” opposition.

Talon has been praised for driving economic development but is often accused of authoritarianism.

(AFP)

Headline

JUST IN: Soldiers Announce Military Takeover Of Govt In Benin Republic

Published

1 day ago

December 7, 2025

Editor

A group of soldiers appeared on Benin’s state television on Sunday to announce the dissolution of the government in what is being described as an apparent coup, marking yet another power seizure in West Africa.

Identifying themselves as the Military Committee for Refoundation, the soldiers declared the removal of the president and all state institutions.

President Patrice Talon, who has been in office since 2016, was scheduled to leave office next April after the presidential election. His party’s preferred candidate, former Finance Minister Romuald Wadagni, had been widely viewed as the frontrunner. Opposition candidate Renaud Agbodjo was disqualified by the electoral commission on the grounds that he did not have “sufficient sponsors.”

The takeover comes a month after Benin’s legislature extended the presidential term from five to seven years while retaining the two-term limit.

(AFP)