Thank God!
The Military, for now, has ceased the war it declared on sales of national newspapers across the country last weekend. The restriction of circulation for five days of national newspapers in Nigeria brought a fright to Nigeria’s democracy, akin to the terrible military era.
As a result, the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC has urged media owners and vendors to demand compensation for losses incurred reports Vanguard,
In a statement by the NLC President, Mr. Abdulwaheed Omar, also called for arrest and punishment of soldiers involved in the show of shame
NLC President, Mr. Abdulwaheed Omar
The statement, entitled “Stop Disrupting Newspapers Circulation Now!” read: “The ongoing harassment of newspaper vendors, which includes seizure of newspapers, arrest of circulation drivers of several newspaper publishing companies as well as depriving the reading public access to information by operatives of the Nigerian military and other security agencies is absolutely unacceptable and clearly out of place in any democratic society.
“The military and all the security agencies ought to know that all fundamental rights are germane to democracy and therefore, lack constitutional and legal rights to unilaterally order the circumscription of freedom of press or any freedom in any form as we cannot find the link between insecurity and a free press in democratic governance.”
The vans of the dailies affected were not intercepted at the usual Military check point along Abuja-Suleja-Minna road where they were usually intercepted, neither were soldiers seen at the distribution centre near Obasanjo Complex where they officially searched parcels of different titles before being circulated.
Yesterday morning, all the restricted dailies, including The Nation, Daily Trust and Leadership, were seen on the stands, with the vendors freely displaying them for people to pick.
These three dailies were worst hit by the military action.
