Journalists,endangered species in war zones - National Mirror, June 19, 2016

Journalists,endangered species in war zones  -  National Mirror, June 19, 2016

By Paul Omo Obadan

Amidst mounting prospect of global conflict posed by the threat of terrorism as depicted by Boko Haram,Al-Qaeda, ISIS and the likes, the rate at which members of the Fourth Estate of the Realm, otherwise described as the watchdogs of the society have increasingly had their ranks depleted by death through occupational hazards,particularly in crisis zones gives cause for concern. PAUL OMO OBADAN writes on this worrisome trend that calls for urgent attention and action of stakeholders.

In 1990, two senior and highly resourceful Nigerian journalists, Tayo Awotunsin and Krees Imodibie of the Champion and The Guardian newspapers respectively disappeared in Monrovia,Liberia’s capital, while on official assignment in the West African country then beset with a fratricidal war over the political control of the former American colony. Awotunsin was a member of the editorial board of the Champion newspaper, while Imodibie was the political editor of The Guardian, a national daily.

This incident way back in 1989,opened a floodgates of unprecedented wave of loss of life for journalistscovering conflict zones. Both the Nigerian Guild of Editors and the NigerianUnion of Journalists called on the government to seek vengeance against CharlesTaylor, a Liberian rebel leader fighting to oust Sgt. Samuel Doe, a despotichead of state, who had held his nation down with tyranny; and his partners incrime, responsible for the death of the two outstanding journalists.

Many accounts said the twojournalists were captured by troops loyal to Taylor in August while they werestaying at a downtown hotel. From there, witnesses said, they were moved toseveral locations. The first indication that their lives might be in dangercame in October when Taylor threatened to execute several hundred WestAfricans, including Nigerians, whom his troops were holding hostage. Taylormade the threat in an effort to force the withdrawal of the five-nation WestAfrican peace-keeping force, ECOMOG that entered Liberia in an effort toenforce a cease-fire in the war.

Taylor had vigorously opposed theintervention, arguing that the force was, in fact, trying to prop up thegovernment of President Samuel K. Doe, who was subsequently slain by anotherrebel group. In an account published in The Sunday Times, a Lagos weekly fromthe stable of Daily Times, the flagship of the Nigerian press, Mr. LindsayBarrett said the order to execute the two journalists were given by Putu Major,a rebel commander. Mr. Barrett cited unidentified witnesses who said that“although Charles Taylor did not give a direct order for their death, hisbitter denounciation of all West African nationals led directly to theexecution of the two Nigerians. The former Liberian President was accused ofstarving to death, Awotunsin and Imodibie in 1990.

This information was revealed tothe Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) by a witness, Marie Vah, a nurseat the Minneapolis Hospital in the United States. She recounted how the twojournalists died in the hands of Mr Taylor’s defunct National Patriotic Frontof Liberia (NPFL) rebels under mysterious circumstances. “Captured and kept ina make-shift prison in the NPFL Gbanga headquarters in central Liberia, thejournalists looked like walking skeletons,” the TRC was told. Mrs Vah and afriend had travelled to Liberia from the US in 1990 in search of relatives onlyto be detained on the orders of the former rebel leader. Marie Vah is one ofseveral persons who testified at the Diaspora hearing at Hamline University inMinnesota. She said they were denied food during their brief imprisonmentalongside the journalist who “looked so emaciated.”

“The condition I saw them in, Idon’t think they survived long after we left the jail,” she said. TRC wasestablished by the Liberian government to heal the many wounds caused by theWest African country’s 14-year civil war. ‘I Never Ordered the Killing ofNigerian Journalists’ In an exclusive interview with the Chairman/ChiefExecutive Officer of Channels Television, Mr. John Momoh in Calabar, CrossRiver State while in exile in Nigeria in 2004, Mr. Taylor maintained hisinnocence, reiterating that he never ordered the killing of Nigerianjournalists.’ “Two Nigerian journalists were killed by a colonel of the thenNPFL, by the name ‘Putu Major’. Putu Major was arrested, he was courtmartialled, tried and executed for the killing of those two journalists. Idispatched my information Officer here to Nigeria to meet with the families ofthe two journalists, to explain the issue and offered them a small ‘envelope’,but they refused it.

“The killing of those journalistswere wrong, I did not accept it and I took action. Those two journalists thatwere killed caused the execution of Colonel Putu major. You go to Liberia nowand ask anyone, they will tell you Putu Major was executed by the NPFL under mycommand.” Taylor said.

As fate would have it, CharlesTaylor who ran to Nigeria on exile was subsequently arrested and taken to theHague to face judgment. A 50-year jail term was handed to the Liberianexpresident for encouraging rebels in Sierra Leone to mutilate, rape and murderduring the country’s civil war. He is the first head of state to be convictedof war crimes by an international court since the Nuremberg trials of Nazileaders after World War II. Since then, Journalists have been on the receivingend in conflict-riddled war zones.

The idiom, ‘The pen is mightierthan the sword,’ said to emphasize that thinking and writing have moreinfluence on people and events than the use of force or violence, has become afallacy. Now, action speaks louder than word and a sword can only change aperson’s opinion by force and then, often results only in the person’s death. So,when it comes to governance of the humans, violence outweighs our thoughts andthinking. This is best depicted by the way hundreds of journalists die in lineof duty, especially while covering conflicts.

The pen is no more, mightier thanthe sword, it would seem. ‘110 journalists killed this year need a responsethat matches the emergency’ According to Reporters without Borders (RSF), atotal of 110 journalists were killed around the world in 2015.

Noting that while many died inwar zones, the majority were killed in supposedly peaceful countries. 67journalists were killed in the line of duty this year, the watchdog group saidin its annual roundup, listing war-torn Iraq and Syria as most dangerous placesfor journalists with 11 and 10 fatalities respectively, followed by France,where eight journalists were killed in a jihadist assault on a satiricalmagazine. A further 43 journalists around the world died in circumstances thatwere unclear and 27 non-professional “citizen-journalists” and seven other mediaworkers were also killed, RSF said.

The high toll is “largelyattributable to deliberate violence against journalists” and demonstrates thefailure of initiatives to protect media personnel, the report said, calling forthe United Nations to take action. In particular, the report shed light on thegrowing role of “non-state groups” — often jihadists such as the Islamic Stategroup — in perpetrating atrocities against journalists. In 2014, it said,two-thirds of the journalists killed were in war zones. But in 2015, it was theexact opposite, with “two-thirds killed in countries ‘at peace’.” “Non-stategroups perpetrate targeted atrocities while too many governments do not complywith their obligations under international law,” RSF Secretary General, ChristopheDeloire said. “The 110 journalists killed this year need a response thatmatches the emergency. A special representative of the United Nationssecretary-general for the safety of journalists must be appointed withoutdelay.”

The 67 deaths bring to 787 thetotal number of journalists who were murdered, knowingly targeted or killed inthe course of their work since 2005, the Paris-based organisation said. In2014, there were 66 such fatalities. France was the scene of an unprecedentedattack on the press in January when gunmen opened fire at the offices of thesatirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, killing 12 people, including eightjournalists.

“It was an unprecedentedtragedy,” RSF said. “A western country had never suffered a massacre of thiskind in the past. “Charlie Hebdo’s journalists and employees have been livingunder close protection ever since. Some of them still have to keep changingtheir place of residence.” In Syria, the northern town of Aleppo was describedas “a minefield” for professional and citizen-journalists alike. “Caughtbetween the various parties to the conflict since 2011, journalists are liableto end up as collateral victims, being taken hostage by a non-state group (suchas Islamic State, the Al Nusra Front or the Free Syrian Army) or being arrestedby the Assad regime,” RSF said.

Those murdered in Syria includedJapanese freelance reporter Kenji Goto, whose execution by the Islamic Stategroup was unveiled in a macabre video in January. – India ‘deadliest’ Asiancountry – The RSF report also singled out India, where nine journalists hadbeen murdered since the start of 2015, some of them for reporting on organisedcrime and its links with politicians and others for covering illegal mining.India saw five journalists killed in the course of their work and four foruncertain reasons, which is why it ranked below France where the cause of deathwas known.

“Their deaths confirm India’sposition as Asia’s deadliest country for media personnel, ahead of bothPakistan and Afghanistan,” RSF said, urging the Indian government to establish“a national plan for protecting journalists”. In Bangladesh, four secularistbloggers were killed in acts claimed by local jihadists.

“The passivity of the Bangladeshiauthorities in the face of this bloodbath has fostered a climate of impunitythat is extremely dangerous for citizen journalists,” RSF said. The report alsoplaced the spotlight on 54 journalists who were held hostage at the end of2015, 26 of them in Syria, and 153 journalists who were in prison, 23 of themin China and 22 in Egypt. Judith Matloff teaches conflict reporting, and isresponsible for coverage of victims in conflict situations. She has pioneeredsafety training for journalists in Europe, Africa, Latin America and the UnitedStates.

To help foster a culture ofsafety in journalism, Judith Matloff, an adjunct faculty at the ColumbiaUniversity Graduate School of Journalism, hosted a day-long free securityworkshop on Conflict Reporting, and panel discussion at the Multi- Purpose Room,U.S. Consulate General, #2 Walter Carrington Crescent, Victoria Island, Lagos,Nigeria; to seek to remind the public of the rising dangers facing journalistsglobally.

Reporters increasingly findthemselves targeted by extremist groups and governments alike, leaving themvulnerable to those trying to keep corruption, abuse and other wrongdoings outof the spotlight These are the environment awaiting the next generation ofyoung correspondents. Judith, a conflict reporting instructor at ColumbiaUniversity, led the workshop for 23 young reporters from a diverse array ofbackgrounds.

The one-day introduction to riskassessment included practical advice on how to work safely onassignmennewspapers; Taiwo George, Cable; Joy Ken-Abakpoya, Nigeria TelevisionAuthority; Waheed Idowu, Nigeria Television Authority; Joseph Asa’ah, WFM 91.7;Richard Edoki, Rhythm FM; Paul Obadan, National Mirror; Mark Itsibor, TellMagazine; and Leke Baiyewu of the Punch. Others were Tokunboh Oyetunji, AfricaIndependent Television; Taiwo Ojedele, Voice of Nigeria; Moses Alao, NigerianTribune; Chiemelie Ezeobi, This Day; Nathaniel Akhigbe, BusinessDay; CharlesErukaa, Channels TV; Kehinde Adeaga, Rainbow FM; Ben Ezeamalu, Premium Times;Godfrey Obemeata, Galaxy TV; Emeka Monye, Silver- Bird TV; Adaugo Yulia Ozigbu,FRCN/Radio Nigeria; Thomas Uzuakpundu, Smooth FM; Tunde Pratt, RadioContinental and Precious Igbonwelundu of the Nation make.

The workshop led into a paneldiscussion and luncheon that brought together industry leaders working in andalongside the press. The Consul-General of the United States of America FrancisJohn Bray said in the opening remarks that conflict reporting had gainedattention due to the ever increasing internal and transnational conflicts thatwe see around the world.

‘In West Africa, we see terroristorganizations working together crossing borders to destabilize societies andgovernments. Boko Haram has been the source of mindless violence in Nigeria,Cameroon, Niger, and Chad. Violent extremists continue to fuel tension andviolence in Mali, Burkina Faso, Mauritania, the Central African Republic, Sudanand South Sudan.

So, given the magnitude of theseconflicts, you need to, as we say, ‘up your game.’ Effective reporting requiresdeep understanding of the nature of the conflict in order to report accuratelyand with compassion. You must master the competing narratives of thegovernment, the affected communities, including the victims, and thebelligerents. This mastery is critical for you to navigate in the fog andcontribute to resolution of conflict and peace building. Willie Brown, the 41stMayor of San Francisco, the first African American to hold that job said: “alie unanswered becomes truth within 24 hours.” It is your duty as aprofessional to prevent that from happening.”

“I’ve seen a lot of conflict in30 years of government service. Aside from almost four years in Nigeria, andthe obvious places like Iraq, Afghanistan, and Cote d’Ivoire, I’ve spent a lotof time in Bosnia, Somalia, and Haiti. And in all these venues, I’ve servedalongside some of the finest journalists in the world. In my personal opinion,what you face in Nigeria on any given day rivals the most complex situationsI’ve encountered anywhere.

Whether it is sectarian violencein Plateau, rising militancy in the Delta, festering pro-Biafra groups in theSouth- East, cult activities, or the insurgency in the North-East, there isconflict everyday. And this is why it is important for you and your peers toacquire knowledge and skills that will help you in conflict reporting. There isan old adage, often attributed to Aeschylus, the Greek playwright, that “inwar, truth is the first casualty.” In my experience, this is true. Moreover,democratic societies depend on the news media for this elusive thing we calltruth.

This dependence by the public onthe media gives you and your colleagues immense responsibility. On a dailybasis, without conflict, you make choices regarding the stories you report and theprominence you give to stories. Your readers and listeners depend on you toprovide them timely information on the political landscape in the country,government policies, the electoral process, foreign policies and internationaldevelopment to help them make informed decisions. The consequences ofinaccurate reporting can be harmful. You must strive to be accurate all thetime.

Your reporting on the armedconflict in the North-East, the serious violence in the Niger Delta, violenceduring elections and other conflicts are delicate situations that require youto not only be balanced, fair and accurate, but to also be sensitive in yourreporting to foster peaceful resolutions. Inaccurate, dramatic, and graphicconflict reporting can escalate violence and worsen a situation. The job istough. Soldiers in combat refer to a phenomenon that the Prussian strategistClausewitz identified as “the fog of war.” During conflict, journalists – anddiplomats – face the same fog as you seek truth.”

A panel of experienced young reporters gave some insight into their own experiences. Channels Television correspondent, Charles Erukaa talked about his experience covering the unrest of Boko haram, in the North-East, Nigeria. “Journalists were a huge target in Ferguson, they didn’t want us there,” Jarrett said. “What happens when the rioters start throwing things at journalists’ compounds? You weren’t even safe in the safe areas that they set up for you.” According to Dr. Tayo Popoola,lecturer in the department of Mass Communication, University of Lagos who has taught conflict reporting under the scope from 1914 when the first World War started, journalists have been involved in coverage of global conflicts.Professor Idowu Shobowale of Daily Times then was the first war correspondent.