Amnesty International has accused the Federal Government of embarking on a media crackdown.

The organization said 2016 witnessed a disturbing rise in arrests and intimidation of media professionals and activists in Nigeria, with at least 10 journalists and bloggers arrested.

Media Manager of Amnesty International in Nigeria, Isa Sanusi, said Nigeria specifically witnessed government responding to legitimate dissent with extreme measures that had devastating impacts on the civic space.

Amnesty in its annual report, titled: The State of the World’s Human Rights, highlights how the Nigerian government responded to legitimate security fears with gross human rights violations including torture, enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings.

The organization at the launch of the report on Wednesday in Abuja, warned that 2017 will see ongoing crises exacerbated by a debilitating absence of human rights leadership on a chaotic world stage.

Amnesty said, “While the politics of “us vs them” is also taking shape at the international level, replacing multilateralism with a more aggressive, confrontational world order.

“The past year has also seen a disturbing rise in arrests and intimidation of media professionals and activists in Nigeria. At least 10 journalists and bloggers were arrested in 2016, some for alleged connections to Boko Haram, in a crackdown that appears to have been orchestrated to suffocate freedom of expression.

“In January, members of the Nigerian army raided the editorial offices of Premium Times and arrested journalists Dapo Olorunyomi and Evelyn Okakwu. 

They were subsequently released but the move sent a clear message to intimidate journalists and the media.

“In Nigeria, it highlights how government responded to legitimate security fears with gross human rights violations including torture, enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings.”

The Nation