Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), a civil society organisation, has condemned the recent conviction of Nigerian journalists, Gidado Yushau and Alfred Olufemi, over a 2018 publication that exposed the illegal activities of Hillcrest Agro-Allied company, which is linked to President Muhammadu Buhari’s Economic Adviser, Sarah Alade.
CISLAC described the verdict as a political move to muzzle the press.
After a legal battle lasting over five years, the journalists were sentenced to five months in prison with an option of fine by the Kwara State Magistrate Court, over a publication titled “Inside a Kwara factory where Indian Hemp is legalised”, which was published in the News Digest publication in 2018.
In response to the conviction, the Executive Director of CISLAC, Auwal Musa Rafsanjani, expressed disappointment at the court’s decision despite the testimony of an ex-employee indicting the company and a lot of infractions by the police. He described the conviction as an attempt to muzzle the press and investigative journalism in Nigeria, which is unacceptable.
“We also demand that an urgent step be taken to reform the country’s laws and ensure journalism is not criminalised like it. International human rights courts and UN bodies have repeatedly ruled against criminal sanctions for defamation,” Rafsanjani said in a statement.
CISLAC further implored President Buhari to champion judicial reforms before leaving office in May, as Nigeria’s ranking in press freedom continues to decline. “It’s a waste of taxpayers’ money when public funds are used in prosecuting cases of personal interests such as this,” the statement read.
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