WHY WE ARE CLAMPING DOWN ON THE NIGERIAN PRESS - NIGERIAN DHQ

Nigeria Army Spokesman Gen. Chris Olukolade

The Nigerian army today tried to justify why the heavy clamp down on the press freedom as we earlier reported today. The army's spokesman, Gen Chris Olukolade in a press statement today Friday said the confiscation of some major newspapers this morning was what he called ” a routine security action”. 

 Some armed men in military uniforms had earlier this morning intercepted delivery vans conveying Leadership, Punch and Nation newspapers to different zones. A top official of Leadership, Azubuike Ishiekwene said some of the drivers where still being held. The Punch Editor, Toyosi Ogunseye said the front pages of today’s Punch were torn at the Lagos airport by these men.

But Defence spokesman, Major General Chris Olukolade said ” intelligence indicated that materials with grave security implications were being moved across the country through newsprint related consignments”

According to him ” the exercise had nothing to do with content or operation of the media organizations or their personnel as is being wrongly imputed by a section of the press”

However, the military failed to explain why after its men discovered the vans contained no materials that could breach security, they were not released.