By Mohammed Munirat Nasir
Zamfara state government has condemned the incidents of attacks on journalists in the country as members of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Zamfara state Council on Thursday joined their counterparts across the country to protest against maltreatment and injustice against journalists.
Leading the peaceful protest in Gusau, the Zamfara state capital, the acting Chairman of the Council, Comrade Abubakar Ahmed lamented that journalists suffers in the hands of security agents, politicians and political thugs among others.
He said as a matter of urgency, the ugly situation must be reversed as the journalists are carrying out their legitimate duties and need not to be maltreated.
Comrade Ahmed also presented a Letter of Protest to President Muhammadu Buhari, titled, “PROTECTION OF JOURNALISTS”, to the Zamfara state acting governor, Malam Ibrahim Wakkala Muhammad.
Ahmed said the protest was in response to the directive of the national secretariat of the union to all state councils to carry out the peaceful protest in order to create awareness on the hazards faced by media practitioners in the country.
Receiving the letter, Wakkala condemned in strong terms unnecessary harassment and detention of journalists by security agents the country.
The Zamfara state acting governor who was represented by the State Commissioner of Information, Sanda Danjari Kotarkoshi, said that harassment on journalists by security agents constitute serious threat to development of democracy.
“it is unfortunate to see that despite the important role journalists play in improving our society and checking excesses, some people feel threatened and so harass, intimidate and use their powers to deny the journalists from carrying out their legitimate duties”, he said.
Wakkala expressed satisfaction with the way and manner journalists conduct themselves in the state.
“We thank God that in Zamfara however, we have, especially under the present leadership of Governor Abdulaziz Yari, maintained a cordial working relationship with practising journalists which have yielded positive results to the development of the state,” he said.
The acting governor who promised to deliver the letter to the President Muhammadu Buhari appealed to Nigerians to always see journalists as partners in progress.