The Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) has expressed shock by the conduct of soldiers who laid siege on the roads across the country on Friday and seized newspapers published for the day.
A statement issued by NGE President, Femi Adesina, condemned the seizure of Leadership and The Nation newspapers meant for the north, south-east and south south.
He noted that the crackdown had caused huge economic loss to the publishing houses, adding that the explanation by the military was totally unacceptable.
Adesina contended that the military action suggest readiness to launch battle front with the media that is by all standards, more patriotic than anybody in the country.
“The media do not bear arms, but rather we bear information, which shed light on darkness, no matter how seemingly impenetrable the darkness is,” Adesina said.
According to the statement, information sets free, it emancipates from shackles, it develops the mind and helps people to make independent, rational judgment.
It called on the military not to accuse the media of any security breach and hide under the umbrella to traumatise it.
It said the media should be counted out of anything not designed for the cohesion and general good of the country.
“These are perilous times in Nigeria. The military and other security agencies as well as the media have all been at the receiving end of the evil of insurgency,” it stated.
According to the statement, for the military, which already has its hand full, to open another flank of battle against the media is indefensible and ridiculous.
The statement said the action was a throwback to the days of military repression, “which we thought we had long put behind us as a country.
“We reject the label of bearer of arms, or any other forms of ordnance to do mischief against our own country.
“If the siege arose out of the need to call a dog a bad name in order to hang it, Nigeria editors roundly and soundly reject such negative profiling.”
