Dignity of law is diminished when journalists are treated as fugitives by Lanre Ogindipe

The arrest and continued detention of journalist Stanley Ugagbe raises issues far beyond the liberty of one individual. It calls into question the disturbing disposition of some law enforcement agencies towards journalists who, in the legitimate discharge of their constitutional responsibility, publish information that may be uncomfortable to those in authority.

It has become an unhealthy pattern in our democracy that journalists are increasingly treated as fugitives rather than professionals performing a public duty. Where a journalist is alleged to have breached any law, the Constitution and our statutes provide clear procedures for investigation, invitation and prosecution. Resorting to intimidation, secretive arrests, prolonged detention, confiscation of work tools or other coercive tactics does not strengthen law enforcement. It weakens public confidence in the institutions charged with upholding the rule of law.

The media is neither an appendage of government nor an enemy of the State. It exists as a constitutional institution in the service of the public interest; to inform citizens, interrogate power and promote accountability. Attempts to criminalise journalism through arbitrary law enforcement actions diminish the dignity of the law and erode the democratic values we have collectively struggled to build.

Having devoted close to five decades to the journalism profession and having had the privilege of serving as President of both the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) and the African Union of Journalists (AUJ), I view this development with profound concern. We did not endure years of repression in pursuit of democracy only to witness a gradual return to practices that create fear within the media and discourage legitimate public-interest journalism.

I therefore call on the relevant authorities to immediately release Stanley Ugagbe, unless there exists a lawful basis to promptly arraign him before a court of competent jurisdiction. More importantly, I urge law enforcement agencies to fundamentally rethink their engagement with journalists. Democracy is not measured by how it treats those who praise authority, but by how it protects the rights of those whose professional duty is to scrutinise it.

A nation that treats its journalists as fugitives ultimately diminishes the dignity of its own laws and weakens the foundations of its democracy.