HURIWA Tasks Media On Fake, Unverified Reports

A group, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has said a free press is essential for an enduring democratic culture and peaceful society, but the non-application of media ethics will crumble Nigeria’s democracy.
It condemned the Tuesday attack by gunmen on a United States (US) Embassy staff convoy in the Amiyi/Eke Ochuche communities of Ogbaru local government area of Anambra State where four persons were killed.
In an interaction with journalists in Abuja, the national coordinator of HURIWA, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, said though his association was among the few groups supporting Freedom of Press in line with Section 22 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as amended, journalism profession in Nigeria is still plagued with some misdemeanors.
Tasking security agencies to bring the perpetrators to book he said, “The killing and the attack on US Consulate staffers in Anambra State on Tuesday, May 16,2023 is shameful and a national disgrace to Nigeria and President Muhammadu Buhari under whose watch kidnapping and violent killings by armed marauders have skyrocketed to an unimaginable and shocking height. This is condemnable and our security agencies must do all possible to bring the perpetrators to book.”
Meanwhile, Onwubiko has expressed concerns over what he described as the rapid decline of media ethics and the total disregard of media laws by some media organisations, especially those of the online genre.
According to him, the Fourth Estate of the realm is a socially responsible and development-oriented media that adopts a conflict-sensitive reporting approach, as it’s driven by professionalism and ethical standards.
He, particularly flayed an online organisation, for the way and manner it carried out its report on the secret trial of Maj Gen UM Mohammed, which he said was riddled with bias and prejudices.
Onwubiko added that the online report on the ongoing court martial process of Maj.-Gen. Mohammed, is ill-conceived and a campaign of calumny.
It will be recalled that the Nigerian Army had disclosed that the former group managing director (GMD), Nigeria Army Property Limited (NAPL), Maj-Gen. U.M. Mohammed, was being court martialled following his indictment over sharp practices while in office.
The director, Army Public Relations, Brig.-Gen. Onyema Nwachukwu, who gave the clarifications in a statement in Abuja on Sunday, said the general was being tried having been indicted by a military police investigation and recommendation for trial.
He had warned thus, “It is crucial to state clearly that it is inappropriate and amounts to unlawful interference with the administration of justice to peddle inaccurate reports and comments on a matter currently under judicial adjudication (sub-judice).”
Onwubiko said apart from breaching media ethics, a lot of other factors have hampered objective journalism practice in the country, saying, “HURIWA is however worried by the misdemeanours that have continued to emerge and challenge the ways and manners that the media practitioners ought to practice their profession.”
While commending the setting up of the Press Ombudsman headed by Mr Emeka Izeze, he called for regulation of online media.
“We applaud the newspapers for this bold step. We are aware that online publishers have an organisation or may be two organisations. But online publishers should be categorised under print and should therefore be regulated by this National Newspapers Ombudsman headed by Emeka Izeze.”