- by Sam Otti -
The Newspaper Proprietors Association of Nigeria (NPAN) has vowed not to be cowed or intimidated by yesterday’s unprovoked attack on some media establishments in Abuja and Kaduna by suspected Boko Haram members.
The premises of Leader & Company, publishers of ThisDay Newspapers in Abuja, as well as the premises of The Sun and The Moment newspapers in Kaduna were hit by serial bomb explosions that devastated the buildings and wreaked incalculable damage.
In a statement signed by the General Secretary, Comfort Obi, the proprietors condemned the attack, describing it as vicious war against free press in the country. The group noted that the unfortunate incident came on the heels of an earlier warning by the Boko Haram sect to launch attacks on the media. The publishers said violence meted out to the media would never gag her members or subject the media to the pillory of silence.
“However, if the current attack is to intimidate the press, we hasten to say that we shall neither be cowed, nor intimidated as we shall continue to discharge our professional responsibilities without fear or favour,” the group affirmed.
The NPAN also expressed surprise why the sect would target the media, which had the constitutional responsibility of reporting events as they unfolded. According to the publishers, members of the sect also enjoyed space in the media where their views, press statements or interviews were reported.
Part of the statement reads: “These incidents constitute a major and unwarranted attack on free press in the country, and we condemn it in very strong terms. The attacks are insensitive, barbaric and very retrogressive.” While commiserating with victims of the attack and their relations, the proprietors urged the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) and the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) to remain resolute in the defence of the ethos of their profession.
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