The organisation also lamented police harassment of "Enugu journalists and activists at the instigation of Dr. Monday Nwite Igwe, the embattled Medical Director of Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Enugu".
The Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre (RULAAC) has said that attacks on media practitioners, activists, and other civic actors are on the rise in Nigeria with recent reports of an increasing spate of repressive attacks in South-East Nigeria.
A statement issued by Okechukwu Nwanguma, RULAAC's Executive Director on Monday said in the last month alone, no fewer than six journalists and other civic actors in Imo and Enugu states of the South-East have faced police harassment, arrest, indefinite detention, and threats of imprisonment as tactics of intimidation by the police, acting at the behest of state governors and other aggrieved public officials.
The report noted that in March 2023, the Nigeria Police Force arrested a Twitter user and social media influencer identified as Mr. Chude Franklin Nnamdi for posting about alleged ballot box snatching during the governorship and State Assembly elections in Anambra State on Saturday, March 18, 2023.
It recalled that Chude Franklin was arrested in Onitsha, Anambra State after he tweeted that the ruling All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) had taken the state back to the ballot box snatching era and that the elections witnessed ugly incidents in many parts of the state.
The statement said, "The Nigeria Police confirmed that Mr. Chude Franklin Nnamdi with Twitter handle ‘ @chude__’ was arrested in Onitsha, Anambra State on the 18th of March, 2023, and he was being investigated by the Nigeria Police Force National Cyber Crime Centre (NPF-NCCC) Abuja, for cyberstalking, pursuant to a complaint received via a petition, about his activities on social media which contravenes the provision of Section 24 of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Act, 2015 and other criminal laws.
"The police subsequently arraigned Chude Nnamdi before the Federal High Court on Thursday, April 30, 2023, on a charge of cyberstalking a business mogul, Emeka Offor. He was granted bail by the Court."
The organisation also lamented police harassment of "Enugu journalists and activists at the instigation of Dr. Monday Nwite Igwe, the embattled Medical Director of Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Enugu".
It said, "There were reports that the School of Mental Health Nursing, Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital Enugu was unlawfully closed down by its Medical Director, Dr. Monday Nwite Igwe. There were also reports of corruption in the management of the institution.
"A Coalition of Civil Society Organisation in Enugu wrote petitions to the Federal Ministry of Health seeking the interventions of the authorities of the ministry to address the plight of the over 700 students of the School.
"Despite a directive by the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Health to the Director to reopen the institution, the school remains closed to date, prompting further reports by the media.
"Some journalists in Enugu reported the unlawful closure of the School by Dr. Monday Nwite Igwe, as well as the allegations of corruption and nepotism in the management of the institution.
"Dr. Monday Nwite Igwe resorted to using the instrumentality of a unit of the Police at the Force Headquarters, Abuja to harass and intimidate the journalists and the chairman of the Civil Society Coalition.
"Because the Director of the school was unable to get the cooperation of the Police in Enugu, he bypassed the Enugu State Police Command and went all the way to Abuja to procure the services of the Police at the Inspector-General of Police's Monitoring Unit who claim they are acting on the directives of the Inspector General of Police.
"Some of the journalists who reported the unlawful closure of the School by Dr. Monday Nwite Igwe, and the alleged corruption at the institution have received Police Invitations from the IGP's Monitoring Unit, Force Headquarters, at the behest of Dr. Monday Nwite Igwe."
RULAAC identified other journalists invited to appear at the IGP's Monitoring Unit Abuja as Ignatius Okpara of The African Examiner; Petrus OBI former reporter of The Sun; former National Vice President NUJ, South East; and Clinton C. Umeh of Journalists 101.
It also noted the invitation of Comrade Igboke Onyewuchi of the Coalition of Civil Society Organisations who "signed the petitions to the Federal government authorities to look into the plight of the over 700 students of the School of Mental Health Nursing, Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital Enugu".
It said, "We condemn, in totality, the attempt to infringe on the freedom of the press in Enugu in particular and the Southeast in general.'
"We call on the Federal government and the Police to ensure that this act of lawlessness exhibited by Dr. Monday Nwite Igwe and his cohorts should stop henceforth because it is not good for our developing democracy. Journalists in the state and everywhere in Nigeria should be accorded the freedom to carry out their legitimate and lawful duties."
The organisation also lamented the alleged harassment and intimidation of Mr. Michael Okechukwu Ilediagu, the publisher of News Center, and other journalists in the state.
The alleged intimidation was orchestrated by the governor’s aides.
At a public hearing to seek redress, Mr. Ilediagu testified that he was being subjected to intimidation by operatives of the Police Anti-kidnapping Squad in the state, who "invaded his home and arrested him over his reporting on developments in the State, with no evidence that he had committed any offence. Officials of the Enugu State Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) as well as other journalists and civil society actors in the state confirmed that the journalist and publisher continue to face threats and harassment from State Government officials".
RULAAC, therefore, called on the Inspector General of Police to make a public pronouncement that the "Nigeria Police is a police force of democracy committed to protecting human rights and operating in accordance with the highest democratic policing values and standards".
It also called the police chief to direct that police officers must at all times comply strictly with the directive standardizing police investigation processes which prohibit the arbitrary transfer of cases from state commands or formations to the Force Headquarters without prior approval by the IGP
Lastly, it asked the police chief to "order the release of all persons arrested and still being detained beyond the legally permissible duration, particularly Mr. Theodore Chinonso Uba, aka Nonso Nkwa, and to halt further harassment of journalists including the Enugu journalists who are being invited to the Force Headquarters instead of allowing the Enugu State Police Command or the Force Criminal Investigation Department Annex, Enugu to investigate if there are credible allegations of any offences they may have committed".