FG ‘has not arrested any journalist’

The Federal Government said it has not put a single journalist behind bars as a result of his or her professional conduct in the two years of the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.

It also restated its commitment to upholding the freedom of the press in the country.

Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed gave the assurance yesterday in a statement issued to newsmen by his media assistant, Segun Adeyemi to mark the World Press Freedom Day 2017.

He described as inaccurate the recent survey by Reporters Without Borders, “which alleged that Nigeria’s press freedom rating has been on sustained decline since 2015”.

The minister promised that the Federal Government was determined to uphold the tenants of democracy, which including freedom of speech adding that the recent incident involving The Punch Correspondent covering the State House was an aberration.

Alhaji Mohammed added that the speed with which the order barring the correspondent from the State House was reversed has lent credence to the fact that government was not out to muzzle the press.

He therefore pledged the readiness to this administration to always create a conducive environment for the media to thrive and to continue to discharge its constitutional mandate without hindrance.