Groups Warn Ex-lawmaker over Alleged Harassment of Journalists

Groups Warn Ex-lawmaker over Alleged Harassment of Journalists

The Coalition for Whistleblowers Protection and Press Freedom has condemned alleged harassment of staff of OrderPaper Nigeria by ex-lawmaker, Tony Nwulu.

The former lawmaker had reportedly launched attacks against OrderPaper Nigeria over a story he considered unfavourable. He was alleged to have issued threats to the publisher of the medium, Oke Epia.

The coalition, which OrderPaper is a member of, on Monday condemned the alleged action of the former member in a press statement signed by 17 of its members.

The statement read: “The OrderPaper crossed paths with Hon. Tony Nwulu after publishing reports on constituency projects nominated in Honorable Nwulu’s name which he was unable to properly account for or provide explanations for the lapses.

“Mr Nwulu was on record threatening Mr Epia and his organisation to “take you down” a chilling utterance that is a direct violation of the fundamental rights of Journalists to hold government officials accountable.

“Journalists are under obligation, by the powers of Section 22 and section 39 of the Nigerian constitution, to hold people in government accountable to their oath of office and their pledge to their electorate.

“The Coalition advises Honorable Nwulu to desist from further threats otherwise the coalition will be forced to pursue legal action against him.”

The media houses and Civil Society Organisations in the coalition are: Premium Times, Sahara Reporters, The Cable, Daily Trust Newspaper.

Others are Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism, Premium Times Centre for Investigative Journalism, African Centre for Media & Information Literacy (AFRICMIL), Civic Media Lab, Civil Society Network Against Corruption (CSNAC).,International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR), International Press Centre (IPC), Media Rights Agenda (MRA), Nigeria Union of Journalist (NUJ), Paradigm Initiative, Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), and HEDA Resources Centre.

Efforts to reach Hon. Nwulu for his reaction were however unsuccessful.

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