TheCable

A coalition of civil society organisations (CSOs) has asked the federal government to investigate the threat on the life of Ahmad Salkida, a journalist known to have access to top commanders of the Boko Haram sect.

The coalition said those purportedly threatening the life of Salkida were parading themselves as agents of the government.

In a statement on Wednesday, the CSOs alleged that there were attempts to stop Salkida from seeking a livelihood through journalism.

The coalition said just like Amnesty International, Salkida had been accused of working with insurgents to undermine the country’s security.

“Weeks ago, Ahmad Salkida, an independent journalist whose consistency in reporting objectively on the human crisis situation in the north-east raised the alarm, following a report he published on the released 82 Chibok girls, that his life was under renewed threat,” it read.

“Today, a similar accusation of working with Boko Haram has been central in the petitions lodged by another shadowy group, the incorporated trustees of overt legacy and human development initiative, in the court against Salkida.

“We, therefore, are obliged to call on the federal government to swiftly investigate the activities of these neo-NGOs and several individuals online and offline threatening Salkida and parading themselves as defenders of government.

“We also urged all appropriate security agencies to guarantee the safety of journalists and public commentators all over Nigeria, and to particularly guarantee Salkida’s continued professional practice without let or hinder.”

They also noted that recent developments “have cast the relationship between government and independent journalists as well as public commentators in a disturbing veil of growing anxiety and tension.”

The CSOs which signed the statement are: Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD), CISLAC, Section on Public Interest and Development Law (SPIDEL), Borno Coalition for Democracy and Progress (BOCODEP), Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) and North East Youth Initiative for Development (NEYIF).

Others are Say No Campaign Nigeria, Zero Corruption Coalition, Centre for Environmental Education, Coalition for Improvement of Public Expenditure Management (BACIPEM), Centre for Women and Adolescent Empowerment, Alliance for Credible Election (ACE), Protest to Power Movement, International Press Centre and Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO).