#EndSARS Protest: Hoodlums Attacked Our Press Centre In Lagos, High Court Badly Affected—-Journalists Cry Out

In a statement, NAJUC chairman Peter Fowoyo emphasised its support for peaceful protests, but condemned the razing of properties including the NAJUC press centre at the high court.

He said:

“Our press centre within the court premises was badly affected, like office equipment worth several millions of naira, purchased last year through the efforts of our members, were either carted away or burnt down by hoodlums.

We, therefore, call on the government to ensure that the perpetrators are apprehended and brought to book to serve as a deterrent to others in the future.”

The association tasked the Federal Government to ensure that journalists’ lives and properties were adequately protected by security operatives and government policies, to enable them to discharge their functions under the constitution.

Fowoyo called on the judiciary to establish press centres in all the courts across the country, to establish a symbiotic relationship between the judiciary and the media, especially those assigned to the judiciary beat.

“It is imperative to state that, ironically, journalists in Nigeria, who report about other people’s plights in the society, have no hazard allowance in the course of doing their jobs. Some are even owed salaries for months.

“We, therefore, call on the Federal Government, through the Minister for Information, to review salary structures and allowances of journalists, especially in government-owned media organisations in the country, just as it is doing to the police and other sectors of the economy.”