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Silencing the Media and Chaining the Watchdog: Threats to Journalist Safety During Elections in Nigeria

In: Handbook of Research on Combating Threats to Media Freedom and Journalist Safety
Sadia Jamil (ed.)
Hershey, PA: IGI Global (2020), pp. 214-240

Institution of author: University of Maiduguri, Nigeria/Bayero University, Kano, Nigeria/Bayero University, Kano, Nigeria

"Over the last two decades, Nigeria has been struggling to consolidate its democratic processes to ensure peaceful campaigns and free and fair polls. But electoral processes require the free flow of verified electoral information and citizen's participation – phenomena that only free media can guarantee. As enshrined in the nation's constitution, it is expected that freedoms of expression and press will be guaranteed during polls times and always. On the contrary, election times are often dejection time for Nigerian journalists. Hence, concerns are being raised about what factors are responsible for causing threats to journalists during poll times and how the menace can be mitigated. Drawing on the experiences of 12 journalists who were interviewed face-to-face, this chapter found aggressive journalistic practices, overconfidence, and breach of journalistic ethics responsible for threats to journalists' safety. The chapter concludes that professional incompetence is one of the critical factors exposing Nigerian journalists to threats." (Abstract)