A group photograph of participants after the event.
Story by Dili Utomi.
In every one of all human endeavours, there are notable hazards that accompany the inherent activities within these endeavours, but the operators within these endeavours usually seek creative and established ways to mitigate, avoid and /or remove these hazards in order that they may live healthily to continue carrying out these activities.
A report on the effect of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict shows that about 32 journalists have already been killed in the one month old war and some of these deaths may have been premeditated as a lot of people see journalists as meddlesome interlopers and nose pokers who do things to disrupt their carefully planned lives.
In light of the dangers that journalists face particularly in the cyberspace, the Media Centre For Promotion Of Safety Awareness (MCPOSA) organised a symposium to mark the World Day For Safety Of Journalists. The theme of this programme is Mitigating Online Violence Against Journalists. The event took place on the at the LCCI building, Alausa, Ikeja Lagos. The event witnessed various speakers like Professor Eustace Onuegbu, an environmental management consultant, Maureen Chigbo, publisher of Realnews, Dr Suraj Adekunle, a senior lecturer of the department of Communications, University of Lagos, Innocent Orok, the publisher of Roamreporters online and Experience Times Newspaper, representative of the Lagos State Police public relations officer, Mr. Benjamin Hundeyin, representative of the Lagos Command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Mr. Abolurin Olumide, a representative of the Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Council, Henry Ojiokpota, the representative of UNESCO and many others.
Innocent Nsikak Orok (middle) receiving an award of excellence from Fineray Attah, left and flanked by Dr. Chinyere Amaechi, right.
One of the organisers, Fineray Attah in his opening speech said that the safety of journalists is a prerogative of the general public and that the mitigation of online violence will greatly remove a large part of the anxieties that journalists face. Professor Onuegbu who is the chairman of the occasion in his speech said that the protection of journalists will go a long way to to help reach the the relevant sustainable development goals in the country. He noted that “mitigating the violence against journalists will require a more pragmatic approach involving all stakeholders”.
The keynote speaker is Henry Oriokpota, a representative of the Chairman of Nigerian Communications Council (NCC) who noted that the incidents of rising cases of online violence against journalists is a reflection of the huge amount of time that people spend on digital space which makes journalists more vulnerable to attacks. He recommends that “actions should be taken to make sure that citizens are not exposed to online attacks and to safeguard the privacy of the individuals even though the internet has become a very important part of our lives”. He urges journalists to leverage on the opportunities provided by the NCC like the code 622 to ensure that they do not suffer so much digital violence.
Maureen Chigbo on her part noted that the society sometimes react negatively to the information disseminated by journalists even though they do not originate the information and that this is part of what causes violence against these journalists. She also cautioned journalists to “apply moe caution while carrying out therir duties as dead journalists don’t write”.
During the panel discussion session chaired by Dr. Suraj Adekunle, real online violence experiences were shared. Barrister Oby Egbe who is also a practicing journalist says that she has on so many occasions been targeted, but that standing strong and using the available means to protect herself have made her more persistent in carrying out her job. Innocent Nsikak Orok while speaking noted that in journalism, every writer has his/her style and that because some engage in investigative journalism, they fall easy targets to people who engage in nefarious activities, but who do not want their illegal activities exposed. Mr Orok said that there there should be mechan!isms put in place to protect journalists while they carry out their duties. There were different opinions about the level of threats to journalists from the security operatives present at the occasion, but it was agreed that a society is better when journalists do their jobs without threats of losses of any kind.
The convener of the programme, Dr. Chinyere Amaechi in an interview said that this symposium is geard towards ending violence against journalists and making their jobs easier. She noted that online violence against journalists is on the rise and that the United Nations is taking notes and making suggestions as to what needs to be done to stem the tide. She aded that as an organisation, they would continue to do their bit to bring to the fore the hazards inherent in the profession of journalism and also seek recommended steps needed to reduce the accompanyiing risks.
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