Buhari will ensure an end to impunity for crimes against Nigerian journalists —Malami

The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), has expressed optimism that President Muhammadu Buhari would ensure an end to impunity for crimes against Nigerians including journalists.

Malami stated this on Sunday while recognising the United Nation’s proclamation of November 2nd as the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists.

In a statement signed by the Special Assistant on Media and Public Relations, Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation, Umar Jibrilu Gwandu, Malami said it was gratifying that Nigeria was no longer among countries with impunity for crimes against journalists.

The statement quoted Malami saying, “The 2020 global index for impunity for crimes against journalists by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), released on Wednesday 28th day of October 2020 indicated that Nigeria is the only country that came off the index from 2019.”

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According to him, the achievement came following deliberate and committed efforts of the President Muhammadu-led federal government and through the implementation of many reforms in the Nigerian justice sector.

These reforms he said included increased access to justice, speedy justice dispensation, decongestion of Nigeria’s correctional centers and judicious implementation of the Criminal Justice Act and Justice Sector reforms.

The statement said, “It could be recalled that in the last decade, before the advent of the present administration, Nigeria ranked 13th across the globe and used to be among top three African countries with impunity for crimes against journalists only after Somalia and South Sudan.”

Malami then said that he was optimistic that with a solid foundation of a reformed justice sector Buhari government would bequeath to Nigeria, that “never again will Nigeria feature among nations where journalists, citizens and inhabitants of the country will suffer from any form of impunity in the future.”

He went further to say that the recent developments in Nigeria’s international arbitration against P&ID and some international oil companies were but indicators of resolute determination of the current administration to bring to an end the era of impunity and lack of adherence to due diligence and rule of law in governmental operations.

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