Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State on Thursday declared his stand against what he called threats against journalists in the quests to discharge their constitutional responsibilities.
His assertion came amidst Wednesday’s slamming of a N5m fine against Trust TV, an arm of Daily Trust over its airing of a documentary The Bandits Warlords of Zamfara originally produced by the BBC.
Sanwo-Olu spoke as guest of the Nigerian Guild of Editors at the opening of its two day workshop on media digitalization holding in Lagos.
The Governor also called for responsibility on the part of practitioners.
In what was apparently a reference to the the sanctions against media houses, Sanwo-Olu said, “So the question we ask is, where is press freedom? I stand with you guys in solidarity to say that indeed your profession is not just a noble one but it’s the one that gives the general public an independent assessment holding our government and governance accountable at all times and so we need to be very careful as public officers that we do not doubt this profession. I want to say that our government appreciates press freedom and media freedom as a way in which we can hold government accountable”
Details later…