CWPPF expresses concern over Premium Times’ reporter, Emmanuel Agbo over yet to be published report

07/06/2024- The Coalition for Whistleblowers Protection and Press Freedom (CWPPF) expresses deep concerns over the invitation of a journalist with Premium Times Newspaper Mr. Emmanuel Agbo, on Wednesday, the 5th of June, 2024, over a yet to be published report.

According to a report by Premium Times, Mr. Agbo was summoned to the office of the Deputy Inspector-General of Police, Intelligence Response Team (NPF-IRT), Abuja in a letter dated 31, May, 2024 to clarify a petition by Homadils Realty Limited.

According to the report, The firm, Homadils Realty Limited, referenced by one Ezekiel Ezemba, a police officer who spoke with the Journalist via a phone call on the 30th of May 2024, is a land developer and major party to a land dispute which Mr. Agbo’s planned story is focusing on.

According to another report by Premium Times, one of the lawyers of the newspaper had gone to the police Intelligence Response Team (NPF-IRT) office to honor the invite but the police insisted that the Journalist must show up in-person to produce the source of the story which he is still working on.

CWPPF finds the invitation of Mr. Agbo by the Police, and the intention of the force to compel the journalist to disclose his source disturbing as such an act undermines the constitutionally guaranteed freedoms of the press and the protection of their sources.

The persistent use of the police force by powerful individuals and organizations as a tool to harass journalists to suppress investigative journalism needs to stop. It is high time the Inspector General of Police addressed this manifestation of outright disregard for the rule of law and democratic principles.

The Inspector General of Police, Mr. Kayode Egbetokun, must immediately put an end to the attempt to use the police force to harass Mr. Emmanuel Agbo of Premium Times over a report he is yet to publish. The harassment signals an attempt to restrain and censor him from publishing his findings. Journalists have the right to discharge their constitutionally charged duties without fear of reprisal and the Nigeria Police Force should not allow itself to be used as a tool of oppression against journalists.

Signed:
CWPPF Secretariat

For:

CWPPF members