Sir Olayinka Agbetuyi ,
I can imagine the immediate consequences of The Jerusalem Post or Arutz Sheva providing The al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades with details of an imminent IDF operation against them. What kind of national newspaper would do that? Perhaps The Palestine Chronicle ?
Simple Simon asks, all said and done, which side is Daily Trust on? Brother Buhari and the good people of Nigeria or Boko Haram? And what if it was fake news?
Of course, it's expected that in peace times, a law-abiding editor would not act as irresponsibly as the editor & his crew at Daily Trust, much less so when "Nigeria is now in a state of war " and in such a state of war a law-abiding government in a democratic state should react exactly as you recommend.
Hopefully, a treasonous press has just learned a bitter lesson and experienced some minor inconveniences when learning this lesson (a very small price to pay when time is of the essence in thwarting the mass slaughter of the soldiers who are battling the Boko Haram terrorists).
Daily Trust now understand and hopefully will not do it again. They now understand that in the emergency situation that they precipitated or intend to precipitate force will be used with reason as has happened in this case and that if necessary ("necessity is the mother of invention") in any similar case in the future the exigency of the situation means that "a court order to seal the premises of the offending media house." could be issued retroactively or that the very responsible government will have a standing order which the Chief Justice has already signed or could sign ("even in the dead of night ") and then go back to bed to enjoy some sound sleep knowing that Boko Haram is not about to chop off his head or ambush some Nigerian soldiers through some secret information obtained and leaked to them by "Daily Trust" . ( This is history : In early 80s of the last century in Rivers State Nigeria, the bandits would send a message to the judge informing him of when they intend to strike, giving the judge ample time and opportunity to call for Police assistance/ protection )
The only problem with your recommendation is that it does not go far enough: " a court order to seal the premises of the offending media house." It would be more effective to add " and to apprehend and arrest the editor/s and journalists concerned, where ever they may be hiding "
You see,Sir Olayinka, I still have Imam Khomeini's fatwa in mind:
"Broadcast on Iranian radio, the judgement read:
" We are from Allah and to Allah we shall return. I am informing all brave Muslims of the world that the author of The Satanic Verses, a text written, edited, and published against Islam, the Prophet of Islam, and the Qur'an, along with all the editors and publishers aware of its contents, are condemned to death. I call on all valiant Muslims wherever they may be in the world to kill them without delay, so that no one will dare insult the sacred beliefs of Muslims henceforth. And whoever is killed in this cause will be a martyr, Allah Willing. Meanwhile if someone has access to the author of the book but is incapable of carrying out the execution, he should inform the people so that [Rushdie] is punished for his actions."
Peter Bernstein - Little Green Men
On Thursday, 10 January 2019 22:34:04 UTC+1, OLAYINKA AGBETUYI wrote:
While I agree with both views ( Baba Kadiri & Oga Cornelius) that publishing official secrets act is a grave offence particularly when it comes to a nation at war ( people must accept Nigeia is now in a state of war; the second Civil War) that is without prejudice to civil society organizations suing the federal government for the invasion of the publishers premises (The US put Asian innocent citizens in jail) following Pearl Harbour and recently apoligised).
It is up to the Attorney General to defend govt action IN COURT and it is for judges to decide.
I accept that it is within the remit of Mr President as commander in chief to order closure of publishing houses that put the lives of combat armed forces personnel in harms way through publication of intelligence on logistics; that emergency can be legalized and formalized by an appeal from the AG to the chief justice of the federation to authorize an impromptu ( even in the dead of night) court sitting to obtain a court order to seal the premises of the offending media house.
OAA
Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.
-------- Original message --------From: Salimonu Kadiri <ogunl...@hotmail.com>Date: 10/01/2019 13:06 (GMT+00:00)Subject: SV: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re: PRESS RELEASE CISLAC CONDEMNSMILITARY INVASION OF DAILY TRUST NEWS PAPER
Since 2012, the founder of Wikileaks, Julian Assange, has been forced to make Ecuadors Embassy in London his permanent place of abode in order to avoid being repatriated to the USA to stand trial for hacking into the US Secret diplomatic accounts and publishing the contents. Yet USA is the leader of the democratic world and apostle of freedom of speech and expression.
Sections 1 & 2 of Nigeria's official Secret Act prohibit disclosure or publication of classified national security information which Daily Trust would appear to have violated. Under normal condition, the police should have arrested the culprits at the Daily Trust and charged them to court but we all know that the corrupt Judiciary would have granted them bails and adjourn their cases sine die. It is in that sense that one should understand the action of the Nigerian Army against the Daily Trust. Besides that, even if the police were to act instead of the army, King Pharaoh, not of Egypt but of the backpage of the Nigerian Tribune, would have renamed the Inspector General of Police as Inspector General of the President.S. Kadiri
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Ämne: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re: PRESS RELEASE CISLAC CONDEMNS MILITARY INVASION OF DAILY TRUST NEWS PAPER----The fight against Boko Haram is not child's play ; it's even an urgent election issue
In one of his "Today's Quote" Chidi Anthony Opara summed up the essence of what verbosity is trying to put across.
Chidi wrote
and I quote :
"Publishing (the) army's impending move was irresponsible, so also was ( the) army invading the office of the publisher!"
With e.g. the case of Peter Wright and the Official Secrets Act in mind, I agree with the first half of that statement: "Publishing (the) army's impending move was irresponsible" and strongly disagree with the second half, that the military's response to the publication was also " irresponsible"
With Daily Trust's known background (the spate of anti-Buhari and anti-government opinion columns regularly featured in that paper and that paper often the voice of an always bellicose opposition - an opposition which we can safely assume does not want the Buhari Government to succeed in knocking out Boko Haram for the count and out, it's conceivable that an irresponsible person/ persons could act as an early warning system to Boko Haram by leaking confidential information that could be useful to them – as endangered species , the sort of information that could help them avoid annihilation..
This is not poetry, is not a poem, it's mere juridical logic and can be argued further if necessary : From the point of view of the Nigerian military / security Daily Trust is a de facto arm of Boko Haram by giving succour to the enemy ( Boko Haram) inadvertently or by design Daily Trusts has de jure deliberately become the enemy - in this case a very treasonous enemy , be warning / supplying Biko Haram with some foreknowledge /DETAILS of any impending Nigerian Military attack on them. Any voices raised in that paper's defence must also know that a friend who acts like an enemy is an enemy...
Daily Trust should thank their lucky stars that fortunately ( responsibly) in this case the Nigerian army falls short of implementing the kind of wholesale destruction commanded by the fatwa against Rushdie's " Satanic Verse" - the fatwa was as follows:
"The author of The Satanic Verses, a text written, edited, and published against Islam, against the Prophet of Islam, and against the Koran, along with all the editors and publishers aware of its contents, are condemned to capital punishment. I call on all valiant Muslims wherever they may be in the world to execute this sentence without delay, so that no one henceforth will dare insult the sacred beliefs of the Muslims."
Miles Davis : One phone call street scene
On Tuesday, 8 January 2019 15:48:23 UTC+1, Rafsanjani wrote:
PRESS RELEASE
CISLAC condemns military invasion of Daily Trust Newspaper
The Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) condemns in totality the methods deployed by Nigerian Army in her response to its allegation of professional misdeeds related to some publications by Daily Trust Newspapers. The unnecessary show of excessive force and arbitrary arrests of staff of the media outfit, as well as the invasion of Daily Trust Offices in Abuja and Maiduguri, amounts to intimidation and threat to freedom of press and undermines the rule of law.
We wish to state that a free and proactive press is indispensable in a true democratic society and remains a veritable platform for informing and educating citizens to effectively engage issues of governance, while also holding government accountable. This is possible only by public presentation of facts, and articulation or publication of findings without fear or favour.
CISLAC is surprised that after about two decades of Nigeria's return to democratic system, enabling instrument of democracy like freedom of press remains a difficult thing to achieve, despite the provision of Section 39(1) of the Constitution of Federal Republic of Nigeria that, "Every person shall be entitled to freedom of expression, including freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart ideas and information without interference."
We also note that Section 39(2) grants every person the right to own, establish and operate any medium for the dissemination of information, ideas and opinions subject to laws enacted by the National Assembly.
We are seriously disturbed by the persistent and unchecked violation of the rule of law in recent times by security agencies including unjustifiable threats against vital institutions of democracy and human rights in the country.
We are concerned by the existing high-handed response deployed by security agencies to civil issues and their level of misconducts, creating public doubt about their readiness and credibility to sincerely conduct themselves appropriately in the 2019 general elections without fear or favour. The Armed Forces have been mandated to defend the territorial integrity of the country and constantly engaging in aggressive and intimidating civil policing is way out of its constitutional authority.
While we believe that journalists and the media should be responsible within the rule of law and avoid acts that could undermine the peace and security of the nation, we insist that the military cannot resort to self-help and excessive show of force to intimidate civilians whenever it feels aggrieved. The laws of our land has made adequate provisions for how such should be addressed and the military should not act outside of these laws.
The security agencies must desist from taking the laws into its hands as there are proper channels to be followed whenever it feels that it has issues with organizations or persons. Resorting to the use of force and intimidation to harass, not only the supposed 'enemy,' but for all living around their area of siege, must to be discontinued. Nigeria must continue to count itself among the comity of civilized nations.
We are also perturbed by the recent increased violence and insecurity the country, and the growing desperation among political parties clamouring for power in 2019 with resultant tension and uncertainty in political atmosphere
CISLAC, therefore, demands the immediate release of the undemocratically arrested personnel of Daily Trust Newspapers, while calling for adequate oversight activities by relevant legislative Committees in the National Assembly on the conduct of military agents across the country.
CISLAC calls on all political parties to strictly adhere to the rule of law and respect for press freedom and human rights in their political dealings as the nation trends towards the 2019 general elections.
CISLAC further encourages the media and general public to continue to uphold democratic core values without fear or favour.
Signed:
Auwal Ibrahim Musa (Rafsanjani)
Executive Director, CISLAC
--
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Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC)
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