‘Fisayo Soyombo, the founder and editor-in-chief of the Foundation for Investigative (FIJ), has charged media organisations in the country to use evidence-based reports as counterattacks against attacks from government agencies and non-state actors.

Soyombo, who was a panellist at the third edition of the Africa International Human Rights Film Festival on Tuesday, where he spoke on Media Resilience in Africa, said that one way media outlets can stand against attacks and targeting is by drawing attention to the reports government agencies are offended by.

He explained that this defence will ensure that the material is recirculated to a larger audience who might not have interacted with it before.

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He mentioned instances such as when policemen abducted FIJ’s Daniel Ojukwu for a report he wrote on how Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, senior special assistant on sustainable development goals (SSAP-SDGs) to former President Mohammadu Buhari, paid N47.5 million to a restaurant to construct classrooms.

He also highlighted a report on Joseph Egbunike, the former Deputy Inspector General of Police, who came after FIJ for revealing how the police chief approved N1 billion for a nonexistent police camp project in 2021.

“For the organisations under attack, you should counterattack. FIJ has a policy that anytime you pick one of our guys or try to strangulate us, we draw attention back to the story that you are offended by, and we will make sure we circulate it to a larger audience,” Soyombo said.

“When Joseph Egbunike came after us and sent the police after us, a lot of people had not read the story that was published on how they stole N1 billion that should have been used to build five police transit camps in five states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

“We recirculated the story and lots of people became aware. A lot of people didn’t know the story.

“So, these guys have to forcefully get the impression that when you go after journalists, that material that is offensive to you will get seen by more people. You then have to decide if you want to keep going after more journalists or if you want to be embarrassed.

“The newspaper has to be resolute in saying that because we ran this story, you are after us, so we will recirculate and we will publish for more people to see.”

Soyombo further recommended that the media take an attack on any media outlet as its own battle. Organisations protecting the rights of journalists can work towards getting legal representation for smaller platforms that might not be able to afford them.

He said these lawyers will ensure that journalists avoid the pitfall of producing libellous reports.

Speaking on the same panel, Kehinde Adegboyega, the Executive Director of Human Rights Journalists Network (HRJN) and the organiser of the film festival, highlighted how state actors across the world particularly in Nigeria have been resilient in using state resources to violate the rights of journalists.

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He stated that the manner of attacks against journalists in the country is more militarian than democratic, as surveillance, forced disappearances and abductions have become a norm.

“Sometimes when we do reports, you will find the police coming after us. We should stop using ‘arrests’, this is abduction, this is kidnapping,” Adegboyega said.

“The people that a journalist contends with, beyond the state, there are a lot of non-state actors who are often interested in an issue.”

He said that journalists have been kidnapped out of their state of residence to other states in the country where they are then prosecuted and often detained.

“The people that are attacking journalists, they have enough funds to mobilise the police, to get journalists wherever they are,” the HRJN director said.

“Unfortunately, when citizens like us are kidnapped and you go and report, the police would say they do not have funds, they do not have fuel in their car.

“But to get human rights defenders, it is often easy. The oppressor has a lot of funds to silence the work we do and it is always overwhelming.”

Adegboyega also encouraged media outlets and journalists to constantly amplify stories of violations and abuses by state and non-state actors.

December 10 is World Human Rights Day to honour the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).