Safety Of Journalists Under Focus As Centre Holds Symposium

By Christiana Okosun

Safety of journalists was the theme of discussion last Saturday, when a one-day symposium commemorating the UNESCO day to end impunity and crimes against journalists held in Lagos

An initiative of the Media Centre For Promotion of safety Awareness (MCPoSA) the symposium with the theme Safety Of Journalists In Crisis And Emergencies, Role Of Risk Assessment, drew experts and practitioners from both the media and safety sectors.

The convener, Dr Chinyere Amaechi, in her opening said the symposium’s aim was to sensitise journalists about safety measures in the course of doing their duties on the one hand, and to also draw the attention of employers to continue to build their capacity of journalists through regular trainings.

The panel session provided more insight to the presentations

Mrs Bamidele Agajumo, a Broadcast Journalist with twenty years working experience and Lead News Anchor at Lagos Traffic Radio, underscored the important role of journalists in society adding however that it had been fraught with dangers.

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As a way of drawing attention to the important role of journalists, she wondered how it would be like for journalists to stay off work for just one day, adding that it would make people grope in information darkness

Agajumo also charged journalists to always take personal safety precautions whenever on duty, including scanning any environment they find themselves at, in the course of work.

She also shared a personal experience of a narrow escape in the course of reporting the last ENDSARS protests that occurred in the country in 2021, advising colleagues not to always showcased identities that could jeopardise their safety. They should however be armed with their Identity Cards.

The Convener, Dr Chinyere Amaechi with a couple at the event

Former Secretary of the Lagos State Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Sylva Okereke, shared from the kidnap experience that involved him and four other journalists in Abia State by heavily armed kidnappers in 2013.

He narrated chilling experiences of how they were held hostage inside a thick forest for eight days and only released after about N25 million ransom had been paid, even with the intervention of the police.

He used the experience to explain that journalists go through a lot of dangers and threats to life, while also advising practitioners on the importance of safety consciousness.

He equally admonished journalists not to leave their life and those of family members to chance, but to make adequate provisions in the case of emergency.

Okereke wondered how many journalists actually take their spouses into confidence in terms of their possessions and personal assets, adding that he was forced to begin to make his wife a co-signatory of his assets after that kidnap ordeal.

Having left for the ill-fated assignment without dropping enough money for his family, he said, he was left wondering, while in captivity, how they would be coping.

Journalists, he said, should also obtain sufficient information about their assignment venues to reduce risks, and also inform family members or professional colleagues about their movements.

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A major highlight of the symposium was a discussion session which saw Barrister Pink Egbe, SP Abolurin Oluwaseun, Mr Usman Emmanuel, Barrister Aaron Echendu, Engineer Jamiu Badmus, Mrs Bamidele Agajumo, responding to particular questions bothering on journalist’s safety.

SP Abolurin Oluwaseun of Nigeria Security And Civil Defence Corp (NSCDC) particularly used the segment to advise journalists to always listen and follow the security guides given to them by the security agencies in the course of their assignments, saying such would help to ensure their safety.

Some of the media houses represented at the event include Lagos Television (LTV), Lagos Traffic Radio, Independent Newspaper and Waka Africa