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Nigeria vows not to stifle press freedom

Xinhua, January 24, 2017 Adjust font size:

The Nigerian government will not do anything to stifle press freedom, because it is keenly aware that a free press is vital to the success of any democracy, Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, said Tuesday.

In a statement made available to Xinhua in Lagos, Nigeria's economy hub, the minister said the federal government has nothing to do with the recent arrest of Dapo Olorunyomi, Publisher of the online newspaper Premium Times, and a reporter working for the paper, Evelyn Okakwu.

He said the whole issue of the journalists' arrest is purely a private affair involving a citizen and a privately-owned newspaper, and wondered how that could now be construed as an attempt by the government to intimidate the press.

"We have said it before and we want to re-state it: The Federal Government has no immediate or long-term plan to stifle press freedom. Even the Social Media, with its warts and all, will neither be regulated nor have its operations tampered with." Mohammed said. Endit