The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Daily Trust

  • No to siege on the press, says npan

    The Newspaper Proprietors’ Association of Nigeria (NPAN) has received with shock the news of the Nigerian Army’s siege to the Daily Trust offices in Abuja, Lagos and Maiduguri over the weekend; arresting an editor and reporter in addition to seizure of computers thereby disrupting the operation of that newspaper.

    Although the unwholesome  raid was called off on the order of the Presidency, and the Army has explained that its action was warranted by the violation of the Official Secret Act by the newspaper giving prior notice of military strategy and tactics to Boko Haram insurgents,  the siege left in its trail panic and anger reminscient of the military era brutalisation of the press and the people.

    The last time in this Constitutional dispensation when the Army violated Constitutional guarantee of free speech was in June 2014 when the logistics for distribution of newspapers was wantonly disrupted and newspapers confiscated across the country on spurious allegation that materials “with grave security implications were being moved across the country through newsprint related consignments.”

    That action warranted an apology and payment of token atonement to the newspaper houses by the Federal Government, although same was later criminalised and newspapers made to make refunds to the EFCC.

    The weekend  siege on the Daily Trust newspaper premises, was clearly unconstitutional, without due process and   an act of self help. Additionally, it showed  a poor appreciation of the advancement in information dissemination in the global village where news is disseminated at the touch of a keyboard and not necessarily in a fixed address.  This is 2019 and those who gave the vexatious order ought to know better.

    The NPAN condemns, in very strong terms, the siege on Daily Trust, the arrest and detention of its staff as well as seizure of its computers.

    Where an infraction is alleged, the best option is to follow due process and civility;  not kneejerk, not intimidation and spread of fear in the civil society.

    We have gone too far in search of law and order regime than to countenance such display of raw power and emotion over due process.

  • Outrage over soldiers’ attack on Daily Trust

    ARMED soldiers yesterday invaded and sealed off the headquarters of Media Trust Limited, the publisher of Daily Trust, over a story connected with the ongoing fight against Boko Haram in the Northeast.

    But the real story, which angered the military authorities, was still unknown.

    It was, however, suspected to be the editorial and the lead story of the Daily Trust on Sunday.

    The editorial, titled: “FG is Running Out of Excuses”, highlighted some of the humanitarian challenges in the Northeast and the efforts of the military in tackling Boko Haram insurgency.

    The soldiers, it was gathered, vacated the newspaper’s headquarters at 9.30pm yesterday.

    According to a top management staff, the soldiers broke into the premises of the newspaper at about 6pm at the peak of production.

    The source said: “We were in the office, at about 6pm, settling down to do our work when the soldiers invaded our premises in five trucks.

    “They broke security barriers and took control of our office complex. They carted away some computers and laptops of our reporters.

    “Our management has got in touch with some senior officials in the Presidency and we have opened talks.

    “There was no complaint or a formal protest from the military authorities before the invasion.”

    A terse statement on the website of Daily Trust said: “Armed soldiers in several vehicles have laid siege to Daily Trust headquarters in Abuja. They have surrounded the premises, dismissed the Mobile Police guards and do not allow entry or exit.

    “Soldiers had earlier today entered Daily Trust‘s office in Maiduguri and arrested two reporters, including the Bureau Chief, Uthman Abubakar.

    “They say it is regarding today’s lead story of Daily Trust on Sunday. Production work has stopped.

    The paper reported that Abubakar and a reporter, Ibrahim Sawab, were whisked away by a combined team of soldiers, DSS and Civil Defence officers.

    “It is not clear why they took the action, but it may be connected with the lead story of Daily Trust on Sunday on military operation in the Northeast.

    “Daily Trust also learnt that the military shut the gate of the Maiduguri regional office, after arresting the two editorial staff on sight at the time of the raid.

    “A witness also noted that the soldiers requested to see Daily Trust Political Editor, Hamza Idris, whose byline appeared on the story.”

  • Daily Trust, Foundation offer scholarship to IDPs’ pupils

    Media Trust Limited, publishers of Daily Trust Newspapers, has partnered with Yomi Otubela Foundation (YOF), a non-profit making body, to offer scholarship to some of the internally displaced pupils willing to return to school.

    At a briefing at Lagooz Schools, Iyana Ipaja in Lagos, the Chief Executive Officer of the Foundation, Chief Abayomi Otubela said the scholarship is to contribute towards education in Africa as well as arouse a healthy academic rivalry among primary and secondary school pupils.

    “The motive and vision of the organisation is to resolve scholarship program in order to add sustainable happiness to the lives of African pupils and women, giving hope to the hopeless. It is also to inspire breakthroughs in the way the world treats children and women to achieve immediate and lasting change in their lives,” Otubela, also the national deputy president of National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools (NAPPS), added.

    He explained that the foundation has resolved to extend the scholarship to pupils with deep knowledge of mathematics and within Primary 5 and 6, JSS1, SS1 to SS2 and between ages 9-15 years, who may be willing to take part in the foundation qualification scheduled for June.

    Otubela, who also underscored the importance of Mathematics, said: “However, it is true that the world can only advance through science and technology. My question, therefore, is: ‘Can science and technology be meaningful without mathematics? And if we don’t give the young ones those things that will motivate them to love mathematics, will the world not dwindle to the historical Dark Ages?”