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BEYOND THE RELEASE OF BAYO ONANUGA,
CHRIS ANYANWU
The Media Rights Agenda (MRA) welcomes yesterday’s release
of the Editor-in-chief of The News magazine, Mr. Bayo Onanuga, and
his counterpart in The Sunday magazine (TSM), Mrs. Chris Anyanwu,
after several days of illegal detention.
Their release without being formally charged with any
offence is a vindication of the MRA’s position that their incarceration
was illegal and unconstitutional and that they ought not to have been
arrested in the first place.
The MRA demands that the Federal Military Government should
publicly apologise to them for this unwarranted violation of their
fundamental rights and pay them reasonable compensation to assuage the
physical and psychological trauma they were subjected to.
We wish to advice security agents to desist from their
current practice of resorting to the arrest and detention of innocent
journalists engaged in the lawful pursuit of their professional duties
before carrying out investigations.
The MRA restates its appeal to the Government to spare
journalists and media institutions in the spate of reprisals following
reports of the coup attempt.
Mr. Onanuga has been detained since his arrest on Friday,
March 10, 1995, while Mrs. Anyanwu was arrested on Wednesday, March 15.
TIVE DENEDO
NATIONAL SECRETARY |
