Final Report Media Monitoring Project on Accessible Justice Issues

Submitted to the Access to Justice Programme of the British Council September 2003

Submitted by:

Media Rights Agenda 10, Agboola Aina Street off Amore Street off Toyin Street, Ikeja Lagos, Nigeria Telephone: 01-4936033, 4936034, 4819162 Fax: 01-4930831 E-mail: [email protected] Contents

Abbreviations 3 Glossary 5 Acknowledgments 6 Summary and Principal Action Points 7 Introduction 9 Background 11 a. Media Practice and News Coverage 11 i) How Decisions are Made About What is Covered 11 ii) Payment for Coverage of Stories and Events 11 iii) Investigative Journalists Working on AJIs 12 b. Nigerian Media Coverage Compared to Other Countries 13 Assignment Terms of Reference 14 Assignment Report 15 a. Strategy 15 b. Observations 19 c. Analysis 21 i) Thrust of the Coverage of Accessible Justice Issues 21 ii) Main Accessible Justice Issues in Focus in Media Reports 22 iii) Media Monitoring Report for Enugu State 24 iv) Media Monitoring Report for Jigawa State 27 v) Media Monitoring Report for Ekiti State 32 vi) Media Monitoring Report for Benue State 36 vii) Media Monitoring Report for Abuja 39 viii) Media Monitoring Report for Lagos 40 d. Conclusions 47 e. Action Points Arising 49 Appendices 55

2 Abbreviations

Codes And Descriptions

Topics And Subject Codes AJ - Accessible Justice Issues AJ1 - Accessibility AJ2 - Openness AJ3 - Accountability from Top AJ4 - Accountability from Below AJX - Other Relevant Accessible Justice Issues HRI - Human Rights Issues HRI1 - Experiences and Perceptions of Women HRI2 - Experiences and Perceptions of The Poor HRIX - Other Relevant Human Rights Issues PAI - Public Accountability Issues PAI1 - Self Perception of Justice Sector Officials PAI2 - Corruption in Justice Sector at the State Level PAI3 - Corruption in Justice Sector at the Federal Level PAIX - Other Relevant Public Accountability Issues

Sources

Police PPR - Police Public Relations IGC - Inspector General/Police Commissioners/Police Affairs Commission POF - Police Officials

Court System MOJ - Ministry of Justice/Criminal Justice Committee JDG - Judges CTO - Court Officials LAW - Lawyers

Prison System COP - Controller of Prisons PRO - Prison Officials INM - Inmates GOF - Government Officials NGO - Non-Governmental Organizations ALT - Analysts and Commentators REL - Religious Leaders FDP - Foreign Diplomats WO - Women ED - Elderly RP - Rural Population

3 UP - Urban Poor YTH - Youths MIG - Migrants ANON - Anonymous Sources OS - Other Sources

Mentions

NPF - Police CTO - Court Officials LAW - Lawyers NPO - Prison Officials PD - Plaintiff/Defendant WS - Witnesses GOF - Government Officials NGO - Non-Governmental Organizations ALT - Analysts and Commentators REL - Religious Leaders FDP - Foreign Diplomats WO - Women ED - Elderly RP - Rural Population UP - Urban Poor YTH - Youths MIG - Migrants ANON - Anonymous Sources OM - Other Mentions

News agency

SM - Same Media OLM - Other Local Media FM - Foreign Media NAN - News Agency of Nigeria NS - Not Specified

4 Glossary

Station: This refers to the radio station being monitored, e.g. Ray Power FM, Lagos.

Bulletin: This refers to the title and time of the news or magazine programme being monitored, e.g. Prime News 17.00 p.m - 1715 p.m.

Monitor: This refers to the name of the person undertaking the monitoring exercise, e.g. Evelyn Iyamah

Items: This refers to the number of reports or programmes being monitored, e.g. 1,2, 3, etc.

Duration: This refers to the length of time that a news item being monitored was aired, e.g. 85 seconds.

Topic: This refers to the issue under which the news item being monitored falls in the categorizations e.g. Access to Justice Issues, Human Rights Issues, etc.

Diversity: This refers to the variety of the sources cited in the story being monitored.

Source: This refers to the person(s), group(s), authority(ies) from whom information may have been elicited for the news item or programme being monitored.

Subject: This refers to the more specific issue on which the news item being monitored falls in the categorizations, e.g. Corruption in the Justice Sector at the State Level.

Mention: This refers to the person(s), group(s), institution(s) cited or being promoted in the news story being monitored. The reference may be positive or negative.

Sound bite: This refers to the use of the actual voice of the person(s) being reported in/on the news/programme being monitored besides the newscaster/reporter’s voice.

News Agency: This refers to the originator of the news story being monitored, e.g. whether sourced by a reporter of the media being monitored, or culled from other media / news sources.

Analysis: This is the critique of the news story being monitored in terms of objectivity and fairness. It also captures the professionalism and depth of the news item.

5 Acknowledgments

This report was written by Edetaen Ojo, Executive Director of Media Rights Agenda, who was project coordinator for the monitoring exercise. Mr. Osaro Odemwingie, a senior programme officer at Media Rights Agenda, who served as programme manager for the monitoring exercise, also made inputs into the report. Bunmi Oke, who served as database operator for the exercise, was responsible for the entry of data from the monitoring exercise into a computer database programme which was subsequently used for the statistical analysis.

Data for the report were gathered by the following persons who conducted the monitoring exercise: Miss Evelyn Iyamah (Radio Nigeria 1, Lagos); Mr. Emma Ikwueze (Enugu State Broadcasting Service 296.1FM Radio, Enugu); Mrs. Angela Ademola (Star 101.5 FM Radio, Lagos); Mr. Iorzua Shaagba (Radio Benue, Makurdi); Miss Tina Anthony (Jigawa Radio, Dutse); Mr. Ilesanmi Adelusi (Voice of Ekiti Radio, Ado-Ekiti); Miss Munachimyi Ibemesi (RayPower 106.5 FM, Abuja); and Mr. Segun Fatuase (newspapers).

Funding for the monitoring exercise and the writing of this report was provided by the Access to Justice Programme of the British Council.

This document is an output from a programme funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID) and managed by the British Council for the benefit of the Federal Government of Nigeria. The views expressed are not necessarily those of the DFID or the British Council.

6 Summary and Principal Action Points

The monitoring exercise clearly established that issues relating to accessible justice are grossly under-reported relative to the reporting of other issues in the media, especially in areas such as politics, the economy and sports. There were, however, variations in the degree to which all the media organisations monitored fell short of what would be considered adequate reporting of Accessible Justice issues, Even the few stories which are relevant for accessible justice lack depth and do not provide a broad range of perspectives. They are particularly deficient in reflecting the views and perspectives of poor people.

Below is a summary of the volume of coverage in the radio stations and newspapers monitored:

Radio Stations

• Total Items Monitored on all 7 radio stations: 28,423 items • Airtime devoted to items on all stations: 503 hours and 2 minutes • Total Relevant Items on all stations: 1,489 items • Total Duration of Relevant Items on all stations: 26 hours and 7 minutes • Accessible Justice Items on all stations: 512 items (8 hours and 56 minutes) • Human Rights Items on all stations: 489 items (9 hours and 11 minutes) • Public Accountability Items on all stations: 529 items (8 hours and 36 minutes) • Proportion of Relevant Items to all Items monitored: 5 % • Proportion of Airtime for Relevant Items to total Airtime for all Items monitored: 5 %

Newspapers

• Total amount of space available in all the newspapers monitored: 1,404,253 Square Inches • Total amount of space devoted to relevant items in all newspapers monitored: 9,729.89 Square Inches • Total number of Relevant articles/stories in all newspapers monitored: 304 • Total amount of space devoted to Accessible Justice Items in all the newspapers monitored: 6,332.37 Square Inches • Total amount of space devoted to Human Rights Items in all the newspapers monitored: 1,178.54 Square Inches • Total amount of space devoted to Public Accountability Items in all the newspapers monitored: 2,218.98 Square Inches. • Proportion of space devoted to relevant items to available space in all newspapers monitored: 0.69 %

It is clear that given the inadequacy of the quantity and quality of coverage, some intervention is required to redress the situation. The following measures are suggested:

• Embarking on sensitization programmes targeted generally at the media and journalists, especially in the broadcast sector, on the short and long-term objectives of the Access to

7 Justice Programme and the importance of covering accessible justice issues as part of a process of reforming the justice sector.

• Developing a media engagement programme with the aim of cultivating a core of reporters who are committed to ensuring maximum reporting and projection of Accessible Justice issues, especially given that the Access to Justice Programme is a long term project.

• Conducting a series of training workshops for journalists in the Access to Justice Programme focal states and, perhaps, in other states, on how to cover accessible justice issues with the objective of expanding their knowledge of the issues and improving their editorial competence and skills in reporting on them.

• Where possible, some intervention to strengthen some local media is recommended especially in the area of technical assistance. This is based on the logic that if the intention is that the Access to Justice Programme will take up to five years, then it should be worthwhile to such investment in developing the media as well, and the benefit of this can be reaped before the expiration of the project through the anticipated improved qualitative and quantitative reporting of Accessible Justice issues.

8 Introduction

The Access to Justice Programme1

The Access to Justice Programme is a seven-year project funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID) and managed by the British Council. The goal of the Programme is to enhance access to and the quality of justice for the poor and to support the development of Nigeria-led justice sector reform. The intent is that pro-poor policies are implemented within a rights-based, evidence-based process.

The Programme was developed through extensive stakeholder consultation with federal and state justice sector policymakers, traditional authorities, academia, civil society organizations, and other donors in Nigeria. The Programme's central office is located in Abuja while regional offices are strategically situated in DFID partner states around the country: Benue (Middle Belt), Ekiti (South West), Enugu (South East) and Jigawa (North).

Poor people in Nigeria are subject to risk, insecurity and vulnerability due to their exposure to danger, crime and violence and their inability to access justice when wronged. One of the central tenets of the Programme, therefore, is that the views and experiences of poor people are fed into the Programme and brought to the attention of policy makers through public perception work as well as through participatory research.

The evidence base compiled through research will inform the design of pilot projects and demonstrations as well as serve as an independent source of information on public perception with respect to accessible justice.

The broad purpose of the media monitoring project is to provide independent and objective data on public perceptions on accessible justice, as reflected in the media, during the Inception Phase of the Access to Justice Programme. Specifically, the objectives of the project are:

I) To monitor the coverage of issues of accessible justice, human rights and public accountability on selected private and state-owned radio stations as well as newspapers in five states and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, to establish: . • The extent of coverage given to such issues by the monitored radio stations and newspapers in terms of the airtime or space devoted to them and how comprehensively events relating to these issues are reported and analysed.

• The pattern of reporting events relating to these issues such as the prominence given to them, and the order in which they are reported relative to other events.

• How much effort is made by the media to report these issues in order to reach the poorer and less advantaged communities, especially in the rural areas.

1 See “Draft Terms of Reference for Media Monitoring of Public Perceptions in Access to Justice Focal States, the FCT and Lagos”, issued by the Access to Justice Programme, January 2003.

II) To assess the differences in the perceptions of issues of Accessible Justice, Human Rights and Public Accountability, as expressed in the media, by different focal groups.

III) To issue regular reports, which will outline the patterns of reporting, the inadequacy or otherwise of analyses, commentaries and news and to provide a framework for a programme aimed at ensuring more qualitative and quantitative reporting of these issues in the media.

10 Background

Media Practice and News Coverage

How Decisions are Made About What is Covered In general, the main determining factor about what events and stories are covered in the media is the newsworthiness of the story. In theory, decisions about what should be covered by a media organisation are taken at regularly scheduled editorial meetings. The meeting takes place at different times of the day in various media establishments ranging from early in the morning to late in the evening. In some media organisations, the meeting takes place more than once in a day. It is usually attended by the heads of the various sections and desks in the newsrooms. During such meetings, events that are known to be upcoming are discussed and their news value assessed. Decisions are then taken on whether they should be covered, how they are to be covered and what prominence should be given to them in the coverage. Stories which are breaking or developing are similarly assessed before decisions are taken on how they should be covered.

However, in most cases, the decision about what story should be covered or the prominence to be given to it are made by the editor or news editor (variously described in different media organisations, particularly broadcasting stations, sometimes as “director of news” or “manager, news”, etc.) Many news organisations give such persons the discretion to make such decisions in cases of emergency, especially issues which might arise after the editorial meeting has been held. They also have the discretion to take decisions in respect of minor stories and events.

Payment for Coverage of Stories and Events Reports and allegations are rife that various persons, institutions and organisations often pay journalists and media organisations to get their stories covered or to get negative stories killed. Although the nature of the monitoring exercise was such that the monitors did not have access to journalists and news events to be able to establish the veracity of such reports, it is nonetheless safe to say that the allegations are largely true and that the practice is widespread.

There are two levels at which such practice operates. In some media organizations, there are standing policies on how much an event organizer should pay to have that event reported. The amounts vary depending on the type of event, the nature of the report, the length, time of broadcast and the type of organization organizing the event. In this regard, political events/stories attract the highest fees. In many of these cases, the rates and fees for the coverage of such events are published and advertised.

In some other media organizations, the amounts paid by event organizers to have their events and issues reported are not official and are paid to individuals within the establishment, usually a reporter or an editor. Such payments, jokingly referred to by media professionals and members of the public alike, as “brown envelopes”, might therefore be categorised as “illegal”. A reporter or, in some cases, even an editor to whom payment has been made might not be able to guarantee the publication or broadcast of the news item or coverage of the event as desired. In some cases, payment are made to prevent the airing or publication of negative reports. The same applies to print media.

In some beats, correspondents and reporters assigned by their various media establishments to cover those areas have formed themselves into associations which operate like cartels and can take collective decisions to suppress particular reports by ensuring that they are not published or aired by any media house. In some other cases, they agree to give an issue or event maximum publicity and in such cases, frequently engage in pool reporting. Such decisions are invariably based on the payment of some agreed sums of money by the interested party.

It should be noted, however, that the practice of receiving payment for the coverage of news, whether officially or unofficially, or to suppress stories is looked upon unfavourably by the profession. The practice is specifically prohibited by the Code of Ethics for Nigerian Journalists drawn up by the Nigerian Press Organisation (NPO), an organisation made up of professional bodies in the media, namely the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE), and the Newspapers Proprietors Association of Nigeria (NPAN). In addition to general standards of journalistic conduct contained in the Code of Ethics, which emphasize the importance of factual, accurate, balanced and fair reporting as well as promoting the universal principles of human rights, democracy, justice, equity, and peace, Paragraph 7 of the Code specifically provides that:

i. A journalist should neither solicit nor accept bribe, gratification or patronage to suppress or publish information. ii. To demand payment for the publication of news is inimical to the notion of news as a fair, accurate, unbiased and factual report of an event.

Many media houses have very strict policies regarding the acceptance of any form of payment to suppress or publish information and frequently dismiss reporters found to have been involved in such practice.

In an effort to stem the unwholesome practice of beat associations which operate in the form of cartels, the Newspapers Proprietors Association of Nigeria issued a ban in 2002 on all beat associations in the country with a warning that the employers of those found to belong to or maintain such associations would be prevailed upon to dismiss them.

Nonetheless, the corrupt practices in the media continue unabated.

Investigative Journalists Working on Accessible Justice Issues The practice in most media establishments in Nigeria is to assign reporters or correspondents to cover different beats. Many of such beats include areas such as the Police, Courts, Prisons, which fall within the justice sector issues. The scope of these beats is delineated in a variety of ways in different media houses. For instance, some media houses have beats which are designated as Police Affairs while some others might refer to the same beat as crime. Similarly, some media establishments talk of the Judiciary as a beat, while others simply refer to it as the courts. But in most cases, this beat would include institutions such as the Legal Aid Council, the Ministry of Justice, the Nigerian Bar Association, lawyers generally, legal proceedings in courts, etc. Reporters covering the “Judiciary” or the “Courts“ usually also cover human rights issues.

12 In many cases, the reporting by these journalists is shallow as they merely report press statements issued by various bodies and official sources, without making any effort to unearth important information or conducting any investigation of stories.

However, a few of these reporters, in addition to such reporting, also take the initiative to do some investigative reporting. However, it should be noted that many media establishments do not particularly encourage their reporters to engage in investigative reporting and give them no training whatsoever to enable them do so.

A major problem, however, is the under-resourced nature of the media in Nigeria which means that many media establishments are unwilling to bear the cost of their reporters embarking on investigative reporting. In some cases where the media establishments might otherwise be able to bear the cost, the long-drawn nature of investigative reporting makes it unattractive.

Nigerian Media Coverage Compared to Other Countries

Although the monitoring exercise was not designed to gather comparative data on the quality of media coverage generally or specifically in relation to Accessible Justice issues, between Nigeria and other countries, it is fair to say that based on non-empirical evidence, the standards of coverage in many western democracies, particularly the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada, as well as South Africa, are generally higher. This is evident from the fact that there is generally greater balance in terms of reporting all sides to an issue; the reporting is usually more in-depth and thorough, and there is greater skepticism on the part of those media with the result that they are less likely to simply regurgitate official statements without question.

However, compared to many other West African countries, particularly the Anglophone countries like Liberia, Ghana, Sierra Leone, and The Gambia, media reporting in Nigeria is evidently more professional and thorough.

13 Assignment Terms of Reference

Purpose The media research will satisfy the need for ongoing, independent and objective monitoring of public perceptions of accessible justice during the Inception Phase of the Access to Justice Programme. The programme is expected to accomplish the following:

1. Obtain first hand information on the perspectives, experiences and expectations of people living in poverty with respect to accessible justice, human rights and public accountability, as outlined below. 2. Determine and evaluate the extent, nature, patterns, and quality of coverage of accessible justice issues in the media during the period April to August 2003. 3. Suggest a media strategy – including a framework for conducting media training around accessible justice issues – for the Access to Justice Programme during the Programme’s Main Phase.

Remit Areas to be covered during the monitoring are defined broadly and include (without being restricted to) the following:

Accessible Justice Issues • Accessibility of justice sector institutions with respect to affordability, proximity, relevance and willingness or amenability to respond to the public • Openness of staff and procedures in justice sector institutions (JSIs) • Accountability of top brass in JSIs • Accountability of line level staff in JSIs

Human Rights Issues • Experiences and perceptions of women • Experiences and perceptions of the poor and vulnerable (e.g. rural populations, the urban poor, the elderly, youth and migrants)

Public Accountability • Self-perceptions of justice sector officials or agency representatives (state and federal) • Corruption (e.g. in the form of graft, undue coercion, excessive force and an absence of accountability) within the police, judiciary, prisons and by the bar (public and private) at the state level. • Corruption (e.g. in the form of graft, undue coercion, excessive force, and an absence of accountability) at the federal level.

Time Frame

The project period covered the period April 14 to August 31, 2003, but actual monitoring took place between May 5 and July 31, 2003.

14 Assignment Report

a. Strategy

The project was designed in the context of the Access to Justice Programme being implemented by the British Council. The monitoring exercise was conducted in its four focal states of the programme (Ekiti, Benue, Jigawa and Enugu States) as well as in Lagos and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The radio stations and newspapers selected for monitoring were intended to cut across different types of ownership.

Seven stations were monitored in all. One radio station each was monitored in Benue, Ekiti, Jigawa, and Enugu States as well as Abuja, while two radio stations were monitored in Lagos. The radio stations monitored were made up of stations owned by private companies, state governments and the Federal Government. The stations monitored were:

Radio Station Location State-owned Owner or Private 1 Radio Benue Makurdi State Benue State Government 2 Voice of Ekiti Radio Ado-Ekiti State Ekiti State Government 3 Jigawa Radio Dutse State Jigawa State Government 4 Enugu Radio Enugu State Enugu State Government 5 RayPower 2 Abuja Private Daar Communications Ltd 6 Radio Nigeria 1 Lagos State Federal Government 7 Star FM Radio Lagos Private Murhi Enterprises Limited Table 1

Ten newspapers were monitored in all. Although eight newspapers were originally scheduled to be monitored, some of those slated for monitoring were published irregularly and had to be substituted with other newspapers in periods when they did not appear. The 10 newspapers monitored were made up of state-owned and privately owned newspapers. Two of these (the Daily Star and The Republican) are based in Enugu State; three (The Voice, The New Times, and The Alternative) are based in Benue State; and two (Ekiti Now and The Forum) are based in Ekiti State. Since there is no newspaper published in Jigawa State, the Daily Trust, which is published in Kaduna, but covers issues and events in most of the northern states, was also monitored. The other two are national newspapers – The Guardian and the Federal Government owned Daily Times.

Newspaper Location Frequency Ownership 1 Weekly Star Enugu Weekly State-owned 2 The Republican Enugu Weekly Private 3 Ekiti Now Ado-Ekiti Weekly Private 4 The Forum Ado-Ekiti Bi-monthly Private 5 The Voice Makurdi Weekly State-owned 6 The New Times Makurdi Weekly Private 7 The Alternative Makurdi Weekly Private 8 Daily Trust Kaduna Daily Private 9 The Guardian Lagos Daily Private 10 Daily Times Lagos Daily Partially owned by the Federal Government Table 2

Eight monitors, one database operator, a project manager and a project coordinator were involved in the monitoring exercise. One monitor was engaged for each of the radio stations monitored and the monitors engaged for the exercise were based in the locations of the radio stations they were to monitor, except for the monitor for Jigawa Radio, who was based in Kano. All the monitors had good local language skills which enabled them to operate in the locations they were monitoring as they sometimes had to transcribe and translate news and other programmes relayed in local languages. One monitor was engaged to review all eight newspapers selected for monitoring. All monitors worked full-time on the project.

Monitors engaged were persons with journalism backgrounds or lawyers with good comprehension and editorial skills and an appreciable level of enlightenment and awareness of the justice sector, comprising the police, courts and prisons.

A database operator was also engaged for the entry of all data from the monitoring exercise into a central computer database on a daily basis. The database was used to generate statistics, tables, graphs and charts at the end of the exercise.

The project manager had direct responsibility for supervising the monitors, ensuring that programmes designated for monitoring were actually monitored, listening to the recorded programmes to ensure that they were faithfully reflected in the monitors’ reports and helping monitors to resolve any logistics problems that arose during the course of the project. The project manager and the project coordinator also carried out monthly trips to monitoring locations outside Lagos in the course of the project to assess the conduct of the monitoring exercise.

The project coordinator produced bi-monthly summaries from the monitoring exercise. Six bimonthly summaries were issued in the course of the monitoring exercise.

Prior to the commencement of the monitoring exercise, the project personnel (monitors and database operator) underwent a joint five-day (April 28 to May 2, 2003) training exercise in Abuja. The purpose of the training was to ensure that all project personnel had a common

16 understanding of the issues to be monitored, the monitoring codes developed for the exercise and the procedures adopted.

The monitors obtained in advance of the training, the programme schedules of the radio stations they were to monitored. During the training exercise, the specific radio programmes to be monitored in each of these stations were identified, although there was a general requirement that all the news and current affairs programmes as well as discussion programmes on the stations should be monitored.

The training covered theoretical, practical/simulations and real life monitoring situations. The theoretical aspect of the training took two days while the practical aspect, which served as the pilot stage of the monitoring in the form of simulations and real time pre-project monitoring, took three days. Thus, the training covered a complete cycle of monitoring, data compilation and report production.

Real life monitoring commenced in all monitoring locations on May 5, 2003. Each of the monitors listened to news and other relevant programmes on the station assigned to him or her, recorded such news and programmes with equipment provided by Media Rights Agenda. News reports and other items which fell within the issues to be monitored were then transcribed and analysed in accordance with the objectives of the project. In the case of newspapers, the monitor reviewed all the selected newspapers, identified stories, articles or other reports which fell within the issues to be monitored. The monitor then analysed the stories, articles and reports in accordance with the procedure designed for the exercise.

Each monitor wrote weekly summaries of his or her observations and filed weekly reports to Media Rights Agenda in a form designed for that purpose. Most sections of the forms were filled according to the codes developed for the exercise (see Appendix 1).

The project coordinator and the project manager carried out monthly trips from Lagos to each of the five monitoring locations outside Lagos during the period of the project to assess the conduct of the monitoring exercise.

The project cycle was as follows: monitors outside Lagos sent their weekly reports to the project manager by courier every Friday evening/Saturday morning, to be delivered on Mondays. The monitored based in Lagos also filed their weekly reports on Monday mornings. The weekly reports were made up of transcripts of the programmes monitored, completed monitoring forms and the weekly summaries written by the monitors from news reports and other relevant programmes aired from Saturday through Friday. They also sent the tape recording of the programmes to the project manager, who randomly listened to some of them and compared his notes with the transcripts by the monitors.

The database operator then entered data from the monitors’ forms and analysis into a central computer database. The database operator then ran standardised and pre-agreed queries on the data collated and entered into the database to provide statistics for the reports.

17 The project employed statistical and comparative analysis in the evaluation of media coverage of the issues monitored. In addition, an evaluation of news and other media reports was also made to determine the sources of the reports; if the sources were diverse or if only one shade of opinion was being reflected by multiple sources and what perspectives were reflected in the reports. In particular, the evaluation sought to determine whether the views of ordinary folks, particularly the poor and disadvantaged members of the society, were reflected in the reports.

18 b. Observations

With regard to the volume of coverage, it was observed that the reporting of Accessible Justice issues was very low in volume compared to other issues that dominated media report during the period, especially reports relating to politics, the economy and sports.

During the period covered by the monitoring exercise (May 5 to July 31, 2003), there were a total of 28,423 items monitored on all the radio stations. This covered a total of 503 hours and 2 minutes of airtime. Out of this total number of reports monitored, only 1,489 items in all the stations fell within the relevant issues, amounting to 26 hours and 7 minutes of airtime. The number of relevant items represents 5.2 per cent of the entire news and programmes items monitored, while the duration of the relevant items was 5.3 per cent of the total amount of airtime devoted to all the monitored items.

Out of these total of relevant news and programmes monitored, Accessible Justice Items on all stations accounted for 512 items; 33 per cent with a total airtime of 8 hours and 10 seconds; Human Rights Items on all stations accounted for 489 items; 32 per cent with a total airtime of 9 hours and 18 seconds; while Public Accountability Items on all stations accounted for 529 items; 35 per cent with a total airtime of 8 hours and 6 minutes.

During the period covered by this report, there were a number of events of national importance that took place. These include the period immediately after the general elections that were held on April 12 and 19 as well as May 3, 2003, including electoral disputations, swearing-in of the chief executives at the federal and states levels and inauguration of the various assemblies. On the surface, it would appear to follow that the need for the media to reflect these developments, may have accounted for the oscillating fortunes the reporting on issues of access to justice, which this monitoring exercise sought to capture, experienced.

But in some way, these events also resulted in issues of access to justice being thrown up and hence were monitored. Some of the Access to Justice issues thrown up by the political development which predominated media reporting include the Election Petition Tribunals set up to adjudicate on election petitions and other legal issues relating to the elections.

However, it must be noted that the percentage increase in non-relevant issues during this period was far in excess of the number of reports on relevant issues that were generated.

With regard to the content of the media coverage, the following observations were made from the monitoring exercise:

1. Generally poorly written scripts on all aspects of issues reported. But this is especially noticeable in reports on Accessible Justice and other human rights issues. However, the three national newspapers and Radio Nigeria performed more creditably comparatively.

2. Added to observations in number two above is a generally poor appreciation of facts relating to AJ issues in very many of the stories relevant to the monitoring exercise and in many of the media outlets.

3. In many of the stories monitored including those relevant to Accessible Justice issues, there was a consistent lack of source attribution.

4. Many of the stories monitored, including those relevant to Accessible Justice issues, were not credited to any reporter despite newscasters’ usual refrain of: “According to our reporter”.

5. None of the media outlets monitored had any special programme devoted to disseminating information about Accessible Justice issues to listeners and readers. Some media outlets however, have programmes or sections in their newspapers, which attempt to focus on some aspects of Accessible Justice issues.

6. Following from the fact of many media outlets monitored not having special programmes devoted to disseminating information about Accessible Justice issues to listeners and readers, there is also a general lack of specialists reporters on Accessible Justice issues. The result is that in many media organizations, any reporter that is available gets assigned to cover issues and events on Accessible Justice. This has resulted in a situation where there are very few journalists who can be regarded as specialists in reporting Accessible Justice issues.

7. Many media outlets monitored, especially newspapers, are focused on an elitist audience who can communicate in English language.

8. In many cases, many of broadcast stations monitored broadcast relevant news and programmes that occur in other states of the federation and in some other cases in foreign countries, while they fail or neglect to report similar events taking place in their home states and locality. This practice was most noticeable in the reporting of the proceedings of the elections petition tribunals. Besides generally refusing or failing to report proceedings at these tribunals, most of the state radio stations habitually relayed pronouncements and judgments that favoured the sitting governments. On the other hand, they would either fail to report similar pronouncements in favour of opposition parties and candidates as well as relay repeatedly for days pronouncements that did not favour the opposition.

The reason for this style of reporting, popularly termed “Afghanistanism”, is the fact that the media organizations are being censored by the state government or, in some cases, the management of the stations are simply not courageous enough to do their jobs effectively due to the lack of job security that characterize many media outfits, especially publicly- funded stations.

9. There is no deliberate media engagement project to promote Accessible Justice issues in the media unlike what happens in some other issue areas such as sports, politics, and the economy.

20 c. Analysis

Thrust of the Coverage of Accessible Justice Issues

The monitoring exercise did not establish any definable theme or special objective in the radio or newspaper reports in any specific area. Although some issues, such as trafficking in human beings, armed robbery, corruption, the Police and the Judiciary, repeatedly featured in reports monitored during the period, there was no evidence of any objective in the treatment of the issues. What was apparent was that there were a lot of statements being made and a number of activities being carried out by various persons, particularly government officials, during the period covered by the monitoring exercise and the media organizations simply reported these events and statements.

However, on a few occasions, the coverage given by the media to events within the terms of reference of the monitoring project showed a pattern which suggested an attempt by the media to highlight cases of injustice and abuse of power, and to seek the vindication of the rights of the victims of such injustice. One issue which appeared to fall into this category was the coverage of the criminal trial of those charged with the murder of former Attorney-General of the Federation and Justice Minister, Chief Bola Ige (SAN), particularly the bail granted by an Ibadan High Court to the most prominent of the accused persons, Chief Iyiola Omisore, a former deputy governor of Osun State and presently a Senator. Following the grant of bail to Chief Omisore only a few days before the inauguration of the National Assembly, there was a perception that the grant of bail had been arranged by powerful interests to enable him attend the inauguration of the National Assembly, which generated a lot of media coverage.

Another issue was the July 22 order by Justice Wilson Egbo-Egbo of the Federal High Court in Abuja, which prohibited the Governor of Anambra State from continuing to represent himself as government and ordered him to hand over power to his deputy. Coming in the heels of the controversy surrounding the abduction of and failed attempt to unseat the Anambra State governor on July 10, the seeming unwillingness of the Federal Government to prosecute or take any stern measure against those involved, and the apparent influence which the chief protagonist in the incident, Chief Chris Uba, appeared to wield in government circles, there was also a widespread perception that the restraining order was improperly made. The perception was reinforced by the fact that the governor ordinarily enjoys immunity from court proceedings in the form of criminal prosecution and civil litigation under Section 308 (1) (a) and (3) of the 1999 Constitution.

The order generated massive coverage in the media following public outcry by Nigerians. The media also reported extensively Justice Egbo-Egbo’s denial on July 25 that he made the order in the manner that it was generally perceived and that he subsequently vacated the order.

Besides such occasional flashes of incisive and forthright reporting and commentary, the media was frequently more preoccupied with simply reproducing statements being made by top officials in the justice sector institutions such as the Inspector-General of Police, various Police Commissioners; various state governors, judges, including the Chief Justice of the Federation; and other government officials. In most cases, the media also reflected the bias of these officials

21 in their reports. For instance, on many occasions when the police paraded suspects whom they described as criminals, armed robbers and drug pushers, the media often simply referred to these persons in those adjectives without giving them the benefit of the doubt or allowing the courts to first determine whether the suspects were actually guilty of the allegations against them.

Main Accessible Justice Issues in Focus in Media Reports

The main focus of the reports in the radio stations monitored is reflected in the number of references made to different categories and classes of people as well as the number of times the views and perspectives of such categories and classes of people served as sources for the stories and reports. During the entire period of the monitoring exercise (May to July, 2003), the most prominent mentions were made in the following manner in the totality of all the radio stations monitored:

Category Number of Mentions Percentage of Mentions Government Officials 549 21.34 per cent Nigerian Police Force 348 13.52 per cent Rural Population 173 6.72 per cent Court officials 152 5.94 per cent Litigants (plaintiffs/defendants) 151 5.90 per cent Non-governmental organisations 119 4.62 per cent Women 107 4.15 per cent Youths 88 3.42 per cent Lawyers 84 3.26 per cent

Table 3

During the period of the monitoring exercise, Government Officials received by far the highest mentions. The number of stories in which government officials were mentioned was 549, accounting for 21.34 per cent of all the 2,571 mentions. This was followed by the Nigerian Police Force, which got 348 mentions, amounting to 13.52 per cent of the total number of mentions.

Mention of members of the rural population was made 173 times, suggesting that they received relatively favourable focus. However, while there was relatively frequent mention made of them, their views and perspectives were hardly reflected in the stories and reports. An analysis of the frequency of sources shows that out of the 2,573 sources in the relevant stories and reports monitored, those belonging to the class of members of the rural population were reflected as sources only in 22 stories or reports, representing 0.86 per cent of all the sources. (The analysis of the frequency of sources is dealt with in greater detail below).

22 while court officials received 152 mentions. Litigants, both plaintiffs and defendants, got 151 mentions.

Others are: Non-Governmental Organisations; 119 mentions (4.6 per cent); Women, 107 mentions (4.2 per cent); Youths, 88 mentions (3.4 per cent); Lawyers, 84 mentions (3.3 per cent); Urban Poor and Anonymous Sources, 77 mentions each (2.99 per cent each); Migrants got 31 mentions (1.2 per cent); Analysts and Commentators recorded 23 mentions (0.89 per cent); Elderly received 18 mentions (0.7 per cent); Foreign Diplomats received 9 mentions (0.35 per cent); while Religious Leaders got the least number with 7 mentions (0.27 per cent).

However, 424 mentions, representing 16.5 per cent, were recorded under general mentions depicted as Other Mentions, while 65 stories monitored during the exercise did not have mentions. This amounted to 2.5 per cent of the total number of stories.

The total number of mentions was 2,571.

It must be noted that the frequency of mentions only gives account of the number of times that reports focuses on the institution referred. It is only a numeric value and does not explicitly imply that the mention was positive or negative in the overall scheme of things.

Out of the total number of 1,489 relevant items monitored in all the radio stations during the course of the exercise, 903 had sources, while 586 items had no sources. Out of the total number of reports with sources, 16, representing 0.91 per cent, were reports from sources within the prison system. This is made up of various Controllers of Prisons, Prison Officials and Inmates.

On the other hand, there were 203 reports, representing 11.55 per cent, whose sources were from the Police. This consists of police personnel with the rank of the Inspector General, Deputy Inspector Generals, Police Commissioners, and police public relations officers, as well as junior police officers and the chairman and members of the Police Affairs Commission.

There were 228 reports with sources from the court system, representing 12.97 per cent. The Court System is made up of the Ministries of Justice (at the federal and state levels), Judges, Court Officials and Lawyers.

There were 427 reports with sources from among Government Officials of various ranks, representing 24.41 per cent. Sources from Non-Governmental Organizations were present in 87 stories, representing 4.97 per cent.

Others are: Analysts and Commentators, 46 reports (2.63 per cent); Urban Poor, 28 reports (1.6 per cent); Women, 14 stories, (0.8 per cent); Rural Population, 13 reports (0.74 per cent); Elderly, 12 reports (0.69 per cent); Foreign Diplomats, 11 reports (0.63 per cent); Youths, 6 reports (0.34 per cent). Religious Leaders and Migrants got less than three attributions.

There were 16 stories, representing 0.91 per cent, attributed to Anonymous Sources. Other Sources, which did not fit into any of the categories for the monitoring were present in 85 stories, representing 4.86 per cent.

In terms of News agency to which reports were attributed, a majority of the reports (specifically 1,074), representing 70.21 percent, were attributed to the reporters of the media organizations being monitored.

The number of times that reports being broadcast came from Other Local Media were 196, representing 12.82 per cent. Similarly, 48 reports, representing 3.14 per cent, were attributed to Foreign Media while 6 reports, representing 0.36 per cent, were attributed to the News Agency of Nigeria. The sources for six other reports, representing 0.36 per cent, were not specified.

Upon a careful analysis of the reports, it is doubtful if many of the reports were actually sourced by reporters from the media organizations monitored. This is because in a majority of the reports, a peculiar refrain was: “our reporter gathered that ...” In such cases, the names of the reporters were not given. This cast a doubt on the authenticity of the claim that the stories were truly sourced by reporters of the media organizations.

Media Monitoring Report for Enugu State

Newspapers Overall, the newspapers monitored in Enugu State had very scanty focus on accessible justice issues. This was in part due to the fact that the newspapers were published irregularly. For instance, during the 13 weeks of monitoring, The Republican, one of the two newspapers monitored in Enugu State, was published only three times, although it is supposed to be a weekly. The other newspaper monitored in the state, the Weekly Star, was also published only three times despite similarly being a weekly. In the result, the newspapers were not a dependable source of information, particularly on accessible justice issues.

During the entire period of the monitoring exercise, the three editions of The Republican had only three mentions with the relevant items being monitored and these were on “Government Officials” and “Court Officials” (See Table 4). There was no reference at all to vulnerable groups The Weekly Star had eight mentions in all, with two of the mentions on “Women” and one on “Rural Population” (See Table 5).

Frequency of Mentions for The Republican Category Number of mentions Percentage of mentions Government Officials 2 66.67 per cent Court Officials 1 33.33 per cent Table 4

Frequency of Mentions for the Weekly Star Category Number of mentions Percentage of mentions Plaintiff/Defendant 3 37.50 per cent Nigeria Police Force 2 25 per cent Women 2 25 per cent Rural Population 1 12.50 per cent Table 5

Radio

Frequency of Mentions for Enugu Radio Category Number of mentions Percentage of mentions Government Officials 149 31.29 per cent Nigeria Police Force 70 14.7 per cent Non-Governmental Organizations 40 8.4 per cent Rural Population 33 6.93 per cent Plaintiffs/Defendants 27 5.67 per cent Lawyers 17 3.57 per cent Analysts and Commentators 14 2.94 per cent Urban Poor 14 2.94 per cent Youths 13 2.73 per cent Elderly 11 2.31 per cent Women 7 1.47 per cent Religious Leaders 2 0.42 per cent Anonymous Sources 29 6.09 per cent Other Mentions 15 3.15 per cent Table 6

In Table 6, which outlines the frequency of mentions for Enugu Radio, the “Rural Population” got the fourth highest number of mentions with 33 mentions, while the “Urban Poor” received the eighth highest with 14 mentions, suggesting that it received relatively favourable focus from the media during the period covered by the monitoring exercise. However, the views and perspectives of members of the rural population and the urban poor were not adequately reflected in the stories and reports. Even where their views were sought by the journalists, there was no actuality used and as such, their voices were not directly heard. The reporter or newscaster simply paraphrased what they are reported to have said. Besides, the frequency of the mentions they received was also in part due to the fact that the reports in which they were mentioned were repeated in different broadcasts.

For instance, the report below, which was categorised as a mention for “Rural Population”, was broadcast on the station on May 22, 2003 and repeated three times subsequently, resulting in a total of four mentions:

“The Chief Magistrate court, Nkwo Nike, Enugu East Local Government Area says that it has no jurisdiction to try the case of alleged murder preferred against two persons, Anthony Onuora Ilo and Sunday Eze in conspiracy with four other persons still at large.

The accused persons were said to have murdered one Ifeanyi Irem at Ugwuago community in Abakpa Nike Enugu on the 8th day of May 2002, thereby committing an offence punishable under section 24 of the Criminal Code on conviction.

25 When the accused were arraigned before the court yesterday (May 21, 2003), the presiding magistrate, E.A. Ngene said that the matter should be referred to the high court since it was a murder case which his court had no jurisdiction to handle. He ordered that the two accused persons be remanded in prison custody and the police to send the original case file and inventory to the director of prosecution, Enugu for vetting and advice.

Magistrate Ngene who also bound the eight witnesses who appeared for the prosecution before the court with N5,000.00 each to give evidence whenever called upon at the high court, adjourned the case sine die.

The magistrate advised hundreds of members of Ugwuago community who thronged the court to hear the case not to take laws into their hands.

Also speaking, a community leader in Ugwuago, Sir Frank Eze assured that the people would allow peace and order to reign in the area to enable justice to be dispensed in the case.2”

Similarly, another report aired on the same station on May 17, 2003 and classified as “Urban Poor”, ran thus:

“Reports from Abakpa Nike section of Enugu metropolis said residents of Ugwuago yesterday staged a peaceful demonstration against alleged police arrest of two members of a vigilante group operating in the area.

ESBS correspondents who witnessed the demonstration said roads leading into and out of the community were barricaded while shops and the local market, Afia 4, also in the area, were all closed as a result of the protest.

One of the leaders of the community, chief Frank Eze was quoted as saying that the roads and the market will remain closed until the two detained vigilante personnel were released. According to Chief Eze, the two men were innocent of the allegation of murder being leveled against them.

The police headquarters in Enugu had denied receiving official reports on the incident.3”

2 The report was originally aired on Enugu Radio at 6.30 am on May 22, 2003 and subsequently repeated three times in later broadcasts).

3 The report was initially aired at 6.30 am on May 17, 2003, repeated three times subsequently in later bulletins.

26 Given the situation above, the following action points arise:

• Sensitization of journalists in the state to raise interest in the media about the coverage of accessible justice and human rights issues and, in particular, on the need to give special focus to issues affecting the poor and other vulnerable groups in the society.

• Identification and cultivation of a core of journalists with a bias or responsibility for reporting accessible justice and human rights issues who would then be encouraged to give more attention to these issues and provided with a wealth of information which would enable them to do more in-depth stories, articles and features on issues relating to the sector.

• Providing training for journalists who have shown an interest in or consistently reported justice sector issues as well as those identified to be strategically placed to give more and better coverage to these issues. Since a main problem is their lack of knowledge of the sector, especially the more technical aspects, the thrust of the programme should be to improve their knowledge of the issues as well as improving their reportorial skills generally including the ability to carry out investigative journalism and in-depth reporting.

• Providing technical assistance to strengthen local media. This is needed in both the print and broadcast sectors. These would include assistance in the area of provision of equipment, management of technical resources, and how to access relevant editorial resources. This is particularly necessary in the print sector given the erratic nature of the newspapers published there.

Media Monitoring Report for Jigawa State

Newspapers There is no newspaper published in Jigawa State and as such, no newspaper was monitored in that state. The Daily Trust and its weekly version, the Weekly Trust, were monitored, but their focus is national, although they obviously had a bias for the North.

27 Radio

Frequency of Mentions for Jigawa Radio Category Number of mentions Percentage of mentions Government Officials 154 35.42 per cent Rural Population 80 18.40 per cent Women 21 4.83 per cent Non-Governmental Organizations 19 4.37 per cent Youths 12 2.75 per cent Nigeria Police Force 11 2.53 per cent Analysts and Commentators 3 0.69 per cent Lawyers 2 0.46 per cent Other Mentions 105 24.15 per cent Table 7

In Table 7, above, Jigawa Radio recorded a high number of mentions for “Rural Population” as it received the second highest number with 80 mentions. “Women” received the third highest number of mentions, although there was a substantial gap between it and “Rural Population”, which came immediately before it. However, one of the reasons for the high number of mentions is because of practice on the station to repeat its news stories a number of times and translate them into Hausa. Besides, despite the high number of mentions, the reports did not adequately reflect the perspectives of these classes of people.

Following are some of the reports that were classified into these categories:

1. Zamfara Governent to Set Up State Public Complaints Commission “Zamfara State Government is proposing to set up a State Public Complaint Commission. Governor Ahmed Sanni disclosed this in a radio interview.

He said if the commission is established in the state, it will create opportunity for both individuals or groups to present their complaints to the government.

Alhaji Ahmed Sanni observed that the commission will give the state government opportunity to know the problems of the citizenry.

He said his government will pay special attention to provision of pipe borne water, good roads and electricity to boost the lives of the people4.”

2. Police Commissioner Warns Against illegal Killings In Jigawa State “The State Commissioner Police, Alhaji Salah Abubakar, has expressed concern over the incessant killing of people in the state for alleged witchcraft.

4 This report, which was broadcast in Hausa, but translated into English by the monitor, was aired at 3.30pm on June 3, 2003.

28 In a statement issued today, the commissioner explained that such killings are unlawful and would not be condoned. He warned that any one caught with such killings would be arrested and prosecuted for culpable homicide punishable under section 21 of the penal code law.

Alhaji Salah Abubakar therefore appealed to the people in the state to be law- abiding and go about their lawful duties5.”

3. Angaza Local Government to Provide Materials to Vigilante groups “Angaza Local Government Council is to provide working materials to vigilante groups in the area.

The chairman, advisory committee of the council, Alhaji Saleh Aliyu Shuma, disclosed this at a meeting with members of the civil defence corps and vigilante groups at Shuwari.

He said the measure was part of the council’s resolve to assist the police in dealing with criminals in the area.

The chairman also announced plans to introduce allowances for members of the civil defence corps and vigilante groups and the reactivation of the police public relations committee.

Also speaking at the occasion the district head of Shuwari Alhaji Abdullahi Abubakar thanked the council for the steps being taken to wipe out crime in the area6”.

4. Jigawa State Government Sets Up Peoples Complaints Bureau to bridge the gap between government its people “Jigawa State government is to set up Peoples complaints Bureau across the state to enhance communication between government and the people.

The Bureau is to be located in all the constituencies in the state and would be under the supervision of the Jigawa State Peoples Congress (JSPC).

The decision to establish the Bureau was reached during a meeting in Dutse between Governor Sanni Turaki and legislators from the State as well as the leadership of ANPP7.”

5 This report was aired on Jigawa Radio at 5.30pm on June 17, 2003.

6 This report was aired on Jigawa Radio at 12.00 noon on June 18, 2003.

7 This report was aired on Jigawa Radio at 5.30pm on July 21, 2003.

29 5. Jigawa and Bauchi States Police commands set to hold joint patrol to curb armed robbery cases along the two state borders “Jigawa and Bauchi States police commands have concluded plans to set up joint security operations to flush out armed robbers in their zones.

The Commissioner of police in Jigawa State, Alhaji Saleh Abubakar Ninji, who confirmed the arrangements said the armed robbers are making life uncomfortable for residents of Gwaraw and Fadam living in the borders of Bauchi and Jigawa states.

Alhaji Saleh Abubakar said already the two commands had mounted strong surveillance in preparation to launch attack for the robbers8.”

6. Jigawa State Government called upon to provide adequate security in Fadau Local Government “Jigawa State Government has been called upon to provide adequate security in Fadau Local Government Council.

The state chairman of ANPP in Jigawa State, Alhaji Haruna Mohammed, ,made this appeal during a meeting with the local government executive secretary.

He said the call has become necessary because of the incessant armed robbery attack in the area.

Alhaji Haruna Mohammed said the high rate of armed robbery cases in the council has affected the commercial activities of the town.

He said the robbers who attacked one Malam Sani Gawani last week invaded the market in the same week and attacked some traders.

In his response, the secretary of the local government council, Alhaji Bilyaminu Ahmed said he will forward the complaint to the state security operatives and all authorities concerned for immediate action9.”

7. Governor of Bauchi Orders Arrest of Traditional Ruler for Alleged Fraud “Governor Ahmed Mu’azu of Bauchi State has ordered the arrest of a traditional ruler in the state for allegedly diverting fertilizer meant for his subjects.

Governor Mu’azu who gave the order in Bauchi said the traditional ruler sold all the fertilizer allocated to his community.

8 This report was aired on Jigawa Radio at 7.00pm on July 22, 2003.

9 This report was aired on Jigawa Radio at 7.00pm on July 22, 2003.

30 The governor who did not disclose the identity of the traditional ruler said that displaced traditional ruler would be prosecuted.

He cautioned that anyone hoping to divert commodities meant for gardeners and fishers, should be aware of the risk involved as government had take necessary measures to detect and deal with any defaulter10.”

The following stories and reports were categorised as reflecting the views and plight of women:

1. Sokoto State Government proposes to ban girl child from hawking in the State “Sokoto State government will soon enact a law that will ban the girl-child from hawking in the State.

The wife of the Sokoto State governor, Hajiya Jemila Baffarawa, disclosed this during the launching of a programme for the girl-child education.

She said when the law is launched it will become compulsory for parents to enroll their girl-children into school. The programme which was initiated by a youth organization in conjunction with Nara Asamao Foundation, will also provide commercial vehicles to cater for women alone in the state.

Hajiya Jemila Baffarawa further hinted that the vehicles would also convey female students to their schools and also bring them after closing hours11.”

2. Over 500 women in Bauchi State to benefit from women trafficking and child labour eradication foundation soft loan scheme “Concerned by the health hazards associated with street hawking by under-aged girls, the Women Trafficking and Child Labour Eradication Foundation is to give soft loans to more than 500 women in Bauchi State.

The aim, according to the Foundation, is to empower women economically. The coordinator of the Foundation in change of North-East, Alhaji Mohammed Yusuf, told newsmen in Bauchi that under the first phase of the scheme, each beneficiary would collect a N10,000.00 loan12.”

The following action points arise in Jigawa State:

10 This report was aired on Jigawa Radio at 3.30pm on July 10, 2003. 11 This report was aired on Jigawa Radio at 7.00pm on June 27, 2003. 12 This report was aired on Jigawa Radio at 5.30pm on July 5, 2003.

31 • Identification and cultivation of a core of journalists with a bias or responsibility for reporting accessible justice and human rights issues who would then be encouraged to give more attention to these issues and provided with a wealth of information which would enable them to do in-depth stories, articles and features on issues relating to the sector.

• Providing technical assistance to strengthen local media. These would include assistance in the area of provision of equipment, management of technical resources, and how to access relevant editorial resources. While it will be difficult to fund a local newspaper in the state, it might be necessary to encourage the emergence of community newspapers, particularly those published in local languages. Technical assistance could be required to provide interested proprietors, including possibly the state government and organized communities, with vital information about issues relating to the establishment, management and operation of community newspapers.

Media Monitoring Report for Ekiti State

Newspapers The newspapers monitored in Ekiti State had a very insignificant focus on accessible justice issues. This was partly as a result of the fact that the newspapers published in the state appeared very infrequently. For instance, in the 13 weeks of monitoring, Ekiti Now, a privately owned weekly newspaper and one of the two newspapers monitored in the State, was published only four times. The other newspaper monitored in the state, The Forum, even fared worse as it was published only three times. However, being a bi-monthly newspaper, The Forum ought to have been published at least six times during the entire period of the monitoring exercise. As in Enugu State, the newspapers published in Ekiti State were not a dependable source of information, particularly on accessible justice issues.

During the entire period of the monitoring exercise, the four issues of Ekiti Now had only four mentions within the relevant items being monitored and the highest mention was on “Plaintiffs/Defendants”, while “Government Officials” and “Rural Population” had one mention each (See Table 8). The Forum had three mentions, all of which were on

32 “Plaintiffs/Defendants”. There was no mention at all of any of the categories among the vulnerable groups (See Table 9).

Frequency of Mentions for Ekiti Now Category Number of mentions Percentage of mentions Plaintiffs/Defendants 2 40 per cent Government Officials 1 20 per cent Rural Population 1 20 per cent Table 8

Frequency of Mentions for The Forum Category Number of mentions Percentage of mentions Plaintiffs/Defendants 3 100 per cent Table 9

Radio

Frequency of Mentions for Voice of Ekiti Radio Category Number of mentions Percentage of mentions Nigeria Police Force 77 19.25 per cent Plaintiffs/Defendants 74 18.5 per cent Government Officials 43 10.75 per cent Lawyers 36 9 per cent Urban Poor 17 4.25 per cent Youths 14 3.5 per cent Non-Governmental Organizations 12 3 per cent Women 12 3 per cent Rural Population 8 2 per cent Witnesses 4 1 per cent Elderly 4 1 per cent Court Officials 2 0.5 per cent Foreign Diplomats 2 0.5 per cent Other Mentions 19 4.75 per cent Table 10

In Table 10 above, “Urban Poor” recorded the fifth highest number of mentions with 17 such mentions, suggesting relatively adequate coverage. “Women” and “Rural Population” also got some mention. However, as in the other stations monitored, despite the number of mentions, the reports did not adequately reflect the views and perspectives of these classes of people

The following are stories categorised as reflecting “Urban Poor”:

1. Cases of child kidnapping for rituals on the rise in Ekiti State “Cases of child kidnapping for rituals seem to be on the rise in Ekiti State. Today, a public-spirited citizen reported the case of the body of a child dumped under the bridge of Ureje along the Federal Polytechnic Road in Ado.

BCSES crew led by Chris Fajemifo visited the scene and saw the child wrapped with white cloth, wearing a blue long sleeve and a striped spot-like shirt. The child who was lying face down could not be identified as either a male or a female.

The Ekiti State Police Commissioner, Mr. Samuel Adekunle, when contacted said he had not been informed of the case but ordered the divisional police officer in charge of Ado to take up the case.

The child kidnapping at Ode-Ekiti is another gory story in Ekiti State. The story which was confirmed by police commissioner Adekunle has it that a two month old baby girl was stolen from a church about two months ago by a culprit who is already in police custody. When found, the hands, the head and the private parts were no longer intact.

The state police commissioner, however, called on people to be more alert to their responsibilities especially about their kids and wards. Suspicious movements of strangers and acquaintances, he said, should be reported to a nearby police station13.”

2. Police shed more light on body of a child discovered in Ado. “More light has been thrown on the body of a child discovered under the Ureje Bridge at the Federal Polytechnic in Ado. In a chat with Chris Fajemifo, the Ekiti State Police Commissioner, Samuel Adekunle, said the case has been confirmed and no part of his body was removed thereby not suspecting rituals, as there were no sign of violence or struggle.

The body had already been deposited at the State Specialist Hospital for autopsy. The Police Commissioner, however, confirmed the case of Ode-Ekiti where a one- month old baby was stolen and when found certain parts of her body had been removed. He also confirmed the arrest of the suspect who is now in police custody and will be prosecuted as soon as the current strike is called off.

Meanwhile the body of an elderly man left standing on his legs has been found in a drainage that leads to Agere stream in the Mugbagba area of Ado-Ekiti. Nobody is ready to talk about the case but those who offered information said he was breathing up till yesterday evening14.”

The following story is categorised as reflecting “Women”:

13 This report was first aired on the Voice of Ekiti Radio at 5.30pm on July 2, 2003 and subsequently repeated two times in later broadcasts.

14 This report was first aired on the Voice of Ekiti Radio at 5.30pm on July 4, 2003 and subsequently repeated three times in later broadcasts.

“The police in Ilorin, Kwara State, have arrested four persons, including a housewife, in connection with the circulation of fake naira notes. The State Commissioner of Police, Alhaji Mohammed Abubakar, told newsmen in Ilorin that the arrest followed the recovery of N500 notes worth N200,000.00 from the housewife. According to him, the fake notes have serial numbers15.”

This story, also aired on the Voice of Ekiti Radio, is categorised as reflecting “Rural Population”:

“A Police constable (name withheld), attached to the Osun State Police Command at the weekend shot a commercial bus driver and injured four passengers along Inisa/Ikirun road over the driver’s refusal to give him N20. The constable, in company if his colleagues who had mounted road block, had fired at the driver who refused to pay the N20 he demanded16.”

The following action points arise:

• Identification and cultivation of a core of journalists with a bias or responsibility for reporting accessible justice and human rights issues who would then be encouraged to give more attention to these issues and provided with a wealth of information which would enable them to do in-depth stories, articles and features on issues relating to the sector.

• Providing technical assistance to strengthen local media. This is needed in both the print and broadcast sectors. These would include assistance in the area of provision of equipment, management of technical resources, and how to access relevant editorial resources. This is particularly necessary in the print sector because of the irregular nature of the newspapers published in the state.

15 This report was first aired on the Voice of Ekiti Radio at 6.30am on June 30, 2003 and subsequently repeated three times in later broadcasts.

16 This report was first aired on the Voice of Ekiti Radio at 9.00am on June 30, 2003 and subsequently repeated three times in later broadcasts.

Media Monitoring Report for Benue State

Newspapers Newspapers published in Benue State had a relatively decent coverage of accessible justice issues. They also appeared more frequently than other state newspapers in Enugu and Ekiti States. For instance, The New Times, a privately owned weekly and one of the three newspapers monitored in Benue State, was published nine times during the 13 weeks the monitoring exercise lasted. However, The Voice, the State-owned weekly newspaper, was published only three times. The third newspaper, The Alternative, another privately owned weekly newspaper, was published only once. The New Times had a relatively large number of mentions. In all, there were 31 mentions within the relevant issues. However, the focus on the poor and other vulnerable groups was very minimal (See Table 11). The Voice had five mentions and equally little focus on the poor and other vulnerable groups (See Table 13). The Alternative had only one mention, and there was no reference at all to the poor or other vulnerable group (See Table 12).

Frequency of Mentions on The New Times Category Number of mentions Percentage of mentions Plaintiffs/Defendants 11 31.43 per cent Nigeria Police Force 8 22.86 per cent Government Officials 5 14.29 per cent Rural Population 2 5.71 per cent Prison Officials 1 2.86 Women 1 2.86 per cent Urban Poor 1 2.86 per cent Youths 1 2.86 per cent Elderly 1 2.8 per cent Table 11

Frequency of Mentions for The Alternative newspaper Category Number of mentions Percentage of mentions Plaintiff/Defendant 1 100 per cent Table 12

36 Frequency of Mentions on The Voice newspaper Category Number of mentions Percentage of mentions Nigeria Police Force 1 16.67 per cent Plaintiff/Defendant 1 16.67 per cent Women 1 16.67 per cent Youths 1 16.67 per cent Rural Population 1 16.67 per cent Table 13

Radio

Frequency of Mentions for Radio Benue Category Number of mentions Percentage of mentions Nigeria Police Force 44 10.12 per cent Rural Population 36 8.28 per cent Plaintiffs/Defendants 33 7.59 per cent Youths 31 7.13 per cent Government Officials 27 6.21 per cent Urban Poor 25 5.75 per cent Court Officials 13 2.99 per cent Women 12 2.76 per cent Lawyers 9 2.07 per cent Migrants 8 1.84 per cent Non-Governmental Organizations 6 1.38 per cent Witnesses 3 0.69 per cent Religious Leaders 2 0.46 per cent Elderly 2 0.46 per cent Anonymous Sources 36 8.28 per cent Other Mentions 85 19.55 per cent Table 14

Table 14 above shows that “Rural Population” received the second highest number of mentions on Radio Benue during the period of the monitoring exercise with 36 mentions, indicating a relatively high level of focus on this sector. The following is a report categorised as “Rural Population”:

“Four landlords all of various addresses in Makurdi have been convicted and sentenced to two weeks in prison for contravening sanitation laws. A Makurdi Magistrate, Mrs. Judith Moze, who sentenced them, however, gave them an option of fine of N1,000 each. The convicts were arraigned before the sanitation mobile court and found guilty of sanitary offences such as lack of bathrooms in their apartments and keeping dirty environment among other offences.

Our judiciary correspondent, Richard Ukene, reports that the two persons, Tor Gaadi and Paul Adenga, all of Kilometre 5 Gboko Road, Makurdi, have also been sentenced by a Makurdi Chief Magistrate Mr. Edwin Ari to nine months in prison

37 for theft. The judge equally gave them an option to pay a fine of N2,000 each. The two convicts were found guilty of stealing a motor-tyre and rim as well as two motor batteries. They pleaded guilty and begged the court for forgiveness17.”

“Urban Poor” received the sixth highest number of mentions on the station with 25 mentions. The following is a report categorised as one of such mentions:

“The Benue State police command has ordered the restriction of operations of commercial motorcycle riders from 10.00pm to 6.00am each day. A statement by Joseph Abugh for the PPRO said plain cloth detectives along with their uniformed counterparts have also been placed all over the state capital to stop and search motorcycle riders, their passengers and other vehicles. The statement requested vehicle owners to carry along with them their particulars and also register their vehicles as anyone without these will have their vehicles impounded by the police and also treated as a suspect18.”

The following action points arise:

• Identification and cultivation of a core of journalists with a bias or responsibility for reporting accessible justice and human rights issues who would then be encouraged to give more attention to these issues and provided with a wealth of information which would enable them to do in-depth stories, articles and features on issues relating to the sector.

17 This report was first aired on Radio Benue at 5.00pm on June 19, 2003 and subsequently repeated five times in later bulletins.

18 This report was first aired on Radio Benue at 5.00pm on June 12, 2003 and repeated four times subsequently in later bulletins.

38 resources. This is particularly necessary in the print sector because of the irregular nature of most of the newspapers published in the state.

Media Monitoring Report for Abuja

Frequency of Mentions for RayPower2 Radio Category Number of mentions Percentage of mentions Government Officials 58 27.84 per cent Nigeria Police Force 30 14.4 per cent Court Officials 17 8.16 per cent Plaintiffs/Defendants 15 7.2 per cent Non-Governmental Organizations 12 5.76 per cent Youths 9 4.32 per cent Migrants 4 1.92 per cent Urban Poor 4 1.92 per cent Analysts and Commentators 3 1.44 per cent Lawyers 3 1.44 per cent Women 3 1.44 per cent Other Mentions 30 14.4 per cent Table 15

Vulnerable groups and sectors, including poor people and women, did not receive any considerable number of mentions on RayPower2 Radio in Abuja (See Table 15).

The following action points arise:

• Identification and cultivation of a core of journalists with a bias or responsibility for reporting accessible justice and human rights issues who would then be encouraged to give more attention to these issues and provided with a wealth of information which would enable them to do in-depth stories, articles and features on issues relating to the sector.

• Providing training for journalists who have shown an interest in or consistently reported justice sector issues as well as those identified to be strategically placed to give more and

39 better coverage to these issues. Since a main problem is their lack of knowledge of the sector, especially the more technical aspects, the thrust of the programme should be to improve their knowledge of the issues as well as improving their reportorial skills generally including the ability to carry out investigative journalism and in-depth reporting.

• Establishing effective media liaisons to ensure that the potential which exists in the media for coverage of accessible justice and human rights issues are fully tapped and utilized, including by creating the necessary structures for media relations, consistently providing the media with information on these issues in a strategic and targeted manner and identifying different media programmes where these issues can be given an outlet. This is particularly important in a place like Abuja where political, economic and other such issues dominate the news and accessible justice issues have to compete for attention with these.

Media Monitoring Report for Lagos

Newspapers The national newspapers published in Lagos had by far the highest amount of coverage of news, events and information generally as well as of the relevant issues. The Federal Government- owned Daily Times newspaper, for instance, had 88 mentions within the relevant issues (See Table 16), while the other newspaper, The Guardian, which is privately owned, had 58 mentions (See Table 17). Although relative to the state newspapers, these figures are high, they were insignificant given the amount of space they had available for other issues such as politics, sports, and the economy, among others.

Frequency of Mentions for Daily Times Category Number of mentions Percentage of mentions Nigeria Police Force 31 29.52 per cent Plaintiffs/Defendants 24 22.86 per cent Youths 9 8.57 per cent Government Officials 8 7.62 per cent Court Officials 5 4.76 per cent Urban Poor 4 3.81 per cent Rural Population 4 3.81 per cent Women 3 2.86 per cent Table 16

40 Frequency of Mentions for The Guardian Category Number of mentions Percentage of mentions Plaintiffs/Defendants 24 22.86 per cent Nigeria Police Force 15 18.07 per cent Government Officials 8 9.64 per cent Youths 4 4.82 per cent Court Officials 2 2.41 per cent Women 2 2.41 per cent Urban Poor 2 2.41 per cent Rural Population 1 1.20 per cent Table 17

Radio

Frequency of Mentions for Radio Nigeria 1 Category Number of mentions Percentage of mentions Nigeria Police Force 103 26.78 per cent Government Officials 56 14.56 per cent Court Officials 52 13.52 per cent Women 35 9.1 per cent Non-Governmental Organizations 19 4.94 per cent Lawyers 11 2.86 per cent Urban Poor 10 2.6 per cent Prison Officials 2 2.52 per cent Other Mentions 90 23.4 per cent Table 18

Frequency of Mentions for Star FM Radio Category Number of mentions Percentage of mentions Government Officials 57 24.51 per cent Court Officials 21 9.03 per cent Rural Population 14 6.02 per cent Non-Governmental Organizations 11 4.73 per cent Nigeria Police Force 10 4.3 per cent Migrants 9 3.87 per cent Women 8 3.44 per cent Lawyers 6 2.58 per cent Urban Poor 6 2.58 per cent Youths 6 3.44 per cent Foreign Diplomats 3 1.29 per cent Prison Officials 2 0.86 per cent Religious Leaders 1 0.43 per cent Elderly 1 0.43 per cent Other Mentions 70 30.1 per cent Table 19

In Table 18 above, “Women” received the fourth highest number of mentions with 35 mentions. However, the stories did not adequately reflected the voices of ordinary women. Some of the stories on “women” aired by the station during the period of the monitoring exercise include:

1. Female circumcision criticised “The practice of female circumcision came under heavy criticisms at the presentation of a national policy and plan of action on the elimination of female genital mutilation. Health correspondent, Godwin Odemwigie who was at the occasion reports that all the speakers blamed the act on ignorance and unhealthy cultural practice, his reports –

Female genital mutilation commonly referred to as female circumcision, involves the cutting off of part or the whole of a female’s clitoris, and other parts of the sex organs.

According to experts, female genital mutilation has serious implications on the reproductive, physical and emotional health of girls and women.

As the nation launches the national policy and action plan on female genital mutilation, the World Health Organization country representative in Nigeria, Dr. Abdullahi Charles, urged primary health care directors and other stakeholders to form a formidable implementation team in every nook and cranny of the country (use of sound bite from Dr. Charles).

While the policies and action plans are being disseminated, a programme officer with UNDP, Dr. Kemi Onyebili, said apart from the health hazards, the economic implications of the practice should also be looked into (use of sound bite from Dr. Onyebili).

Above all, the senior programme officer, Inter African Committee on Harmful Traditional Services, Dr. Funsho Orenuga, painted a gloomy picture of the agony the child is subjected to.

Dr. Orenuga said to stop female genital mutilation in Nigeria requires the involvement of all19.”

2. Inspector General of Police calls for tougher sanctions against trafficking in minors and young women. “The Inspector General of Police, Tafa Balogun, has called for tougher sanctions against trafficking in minors and young women.

19 This report was first aired on Radio Nigeria 1 at 10.00pm on May 16, 2003 and subsequently repeated two times in later broadcast.

42 Mr. Balogun made the call when a delegation from the U.N. office on drugs and crimes paid him a courtesy visit in Abuja. He assured the delegation of the cooperation and support of the Nigerian Police in the fight of the menace.

Earlier, the leader of the delegation, Miss Angela Patrick Nany, told the Inspector General that their commission was involved in the fight against the trafficking of minors and young women from Nigeria to Italy for sexual exploitation20.”

3. Federal Government approves policy on female genital mutilation “The Federal government has now approved the policy on female genital mutilation (FGM), which has been in its draft form for 10 years.

The national coordinator in charge of reproductive health, Dr. Adenike Adeyemi, at a public presentation of the policy in Lagos said its aim was to discourage female genital mutilation. She said that although one of the reasons adduced for the policy was to prevent the women from being promiscuous, the opposite has been the case.

Mrs. Funsho Orenuga, a representative of the Inter African Committee on Female Genital Mutilation, in her contribution said that it has been proved convincingly that the health implication of female genital has profound consequences on women and girls21.”

4. Sharia Court of Appeal to hear appeal by Amina Lawal over the death sentence “The Sharia Court of Appeal in Kastina State will tomorrow hear the appeal filed by Miss Amina Lawal challenging the death sentence passed on her by an Upper Sharia Court in Funtua last year.

The Upper Sharia Court had affirmed the judgment of the court which convicted Miss Lawal for having a baby outside marriage and sentenced her to death by stoning.

Counsel to the accused, Mr. Aminu Yawuri, had on appeal said it was unconstitutional for Miss Lawal to be tried and sentenced under the Penal Code Law 2000, adding that there is no evidence placed before the lower court upon which she was sentenced22.”

20 This report was first aired on Radio Nigeria 1 at 10.00am on May 19, 2003 and repeated two times subsequently in later broadcasts. 21 This report was first aired on Radio Nigeria 1 at 1.00pm on May 20, 2003 and subsequently repeated two times in later broadcasts.

22 The report was first broadcast on Radio Nigeria 1 at 9.00 am on June 2, 2003 subsequently repeated three times in later bulletins.

43 5. Hearing in Amina Lawal’s Appeal Postponed “Hearing of the appealed filed by Miss Amina Lawal at the Sharia Court of Appeal in Kastina State could not begin yesterday as scheduled. This is because only two of the four judges to hear the appeal showed up. The other two are said to be on national assignment elsewhere.

Miss Amina Lawal was convicted last year by a lower Sharia Court for violating Sharia Law for having a child outside wedlock.

The case has attracted considerable national and international interest. It would now come up on the 27th of this month in the Sharia Appeal Court23.”

Table 19 above shows that “Rural Population” received the third highest number of mentions on Star FM Radio during the period of monitoring exercise, indicating a relatively high level of focus on this sector. Besides the fact that the difference in the number of mentions received by “Rural Population” and “Government Officials”, which received the highest number, was quite substantial, the reports touching on “Rural Population” did not adequately reflect the views, voices, perspectives and expectations of members of this sector. “Women” also received some slightly high number of mentions although this also did not adequately reflect the views and perspectives of members of this sector.

The following is a report categorised in part as “Rural Population”:

“An Ijaw group under the aegis of Ijaw Woman Patriotic Forum has appeal to the Federal Government to withdraw all members of the armed forces in Warri and its environ to check the alleged elimination of their children. The group said they can no longer endure the killings and maiming of defenseless innocent babies, old women, children by members of the peace keeping force.

According to the president and secretary of the forum, Mrs. V. Damuzanutel and Mr. F. Warigia respectively, it is become a common practice by the security forces to aim, shoot and kill anybody seen in Ijaw areas of Warri irrespective of the age of the person, based on misinformation and misrepresentation.

The women further alleged that their old people and children had become cut-off from the world as they can no longer go to school and were starving following the closure of the water wells which serve as links between the riverine area and Warri where most of the supplies normally come from24.”

The following are reports categorised as “Women”:

23 The report was aired on Radio Nigeria 1 at 8.00 am on June 4, 2003.

24 This report was first aired on Star FM Radio at 1.00pm on May 26, 2003 and subsequently repeated two times in later broadcasts.

44 1. Police expresses intention to eradicate women and children trafficking “The Nigerian police has expressed intention to totally eradicate the crime of women and children trafficking in the society. The IG Tafa Balogun disclosed this when United Nations delegation on Drugs and Crimes visited him in Abuja. Mr. Tafa Balogun who was worried by the negative impact of trafficking in women and children had brought on the image of the country warned that stiff penalty awaits anyone found involved in the crime. He noted that trafficking in women and men for sexual exploits was indeed a very great crime against humanity25.”

2. Amina Lawal’s appeal to be heard “An appeal filed by Miss Amina Lawal challenging the fatua passed on her would be heard in a sharia court of appeal in the state on the 3rd of this month.

An upper sharia court has affirmed the judgment of the sharia court, Bakori which convicted and sentenced the plaintiff last year for having a baby outside wedlock. Dissatisfied with the judgment of both courts, Amina Lawal went to the appeal court alleging that there was no evidence placed before the lower court upon which she was sentenced. Counsel to the plaintiff Mr. Amina Yowore said it was unconstitutional for Amina to be tried and sentenced under the Penal Code law 2000 that led to the judgment of the two courts.

You would recall that Amina Lawal was sentenced to death by stoning by a Sharia Court sitting in Bakori26.”

The following action points arise:

• Identification and cultivation of a core of journalists with a bias or responsibility for reporting accessible justice and human rights issues who would then be encouraged to give more attention to these issues and provided with a wealth of information which would enable them to do in-depth stories, articles and features on issues relating to the sector.

25 This report was aired on Star FM Radio at 1.00pm on May 19, 2003. 26 This report was first aired on Star FM Radio at 6.30pm on June 2, 2003 and subsequently repeated three times in later broadcasts.

45 generally including the ability to carry out investigative journalism and in-depth reporting.

46 d. Conclusions

On the whole, the attention paid to relevant issues by all the stations monitored was very scanty, although there were varying degrees of coverage by the different media monitored. The data suggests that justice sector issues are not well covered in the media although some of the events which occurred around the time of the monitoring exercise may have affected media focus on issues. For instance, the monitoring exercise began a few days after the third of the three strands of the general elections held in Nigeria on April 12, April 19 and May 3, 2003. The dominant issue in the media during the period was therefore politics and elections. However, the event itself may also have shored up the volume of coverage of justice sector issues as many of the relevant issues identified came from political cases arising from the elections such as petitions instituted by aggrieved politicians before various Election Petitions Tribunals challenging their defeat in the elections, as well as reports of politically motivated police intimidation.

Other issues which also came up during the monitoring period were the abduction and purported resignation of the Governor of Anambra State, Dr. Chris Ngige as well as the increase in the prices of petroleum products and the strike action led by the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), which resulted from the price hike. These issues received a lot of media attention and may have affected the normal volume and scope of coverage of justice sector issues.

A state by state analysis of the origin or focus of the relevant items in total as well as in each of the three monitored areas, Accessible Justice Issues (AJI), Human Rights Issues (HRI), and Public Accountability Issues (PAI), is as follows:

AJI HRI PAI Total Percentage

Benue 56 52 44 152 10.20 % Ekiti 21 12 19 52 3.50 % Enugu 77 23 37 137 9.20 % Jigawa 21 91 27 139 9.34 % Abuja 16 24 27 67 4.50 % Lagos 70 75 90 235 15.78 % Federal/National 192 12.90 % Other States 515 34.58 % Total 1,489 100 % Table 20

Of the Access to Justice focal states, Benue State recorded the highest number of relevant items during the period of the monitoring exercise with 152 items, representing 10.20 per cent of all the relevant items monitored, while Ekiti State recorded by the far the lowest number of relevant items with 52 items, representing 3.5 per cent. Jigawa State recorded the next highest number of

47 relevant items with 139 items, representing 9.34 per cent, while Enugu State was a close third with 137 relevant items, representing 9.34 per cent.

However, in all the locations where monitoring took place, Lagos recorded the most number of relevant items with 235 items, representing 15.78 per cent with Abuja having 67 items, representing 4.5 per cent. Relevant items having federal or national application were 192, representing 12.9 per cent, while relevant stories and reports about other states amounted to 515, representing 34.58 per cent of all the relevant items monitored.

The high number of relevant stories and reports about Lagos was in part due to the fact that two stations were monitored in Lagos as against one each in all the other five locations. But the other reason for the high number of relevant items recorded in Lagos is the fact that Lagos State generally generated more “newsworthy” events than all the other states.

The volume of reports and stories did not have any correlation with the quality, depth and scope of coverage of the issues. In general, the reports and articles lacked depth and insight and were predominantly a repetition of what various individuals, particularly government officials, said. There was very little attention given the views, perceptions, experiences and expectations of the poor.

Although there were a number of stories and reports which made references to issues affecting and concerning the poor, in such stories and reports, the poor did not speak for themselves as various individuals, particularly public officers and representatives of non-governmental organisations purported to speak on their behalf. The poor and non-literate members of the society were hardly ever used as sources in the relevant stories and reports monitored. In all the radio stations monitored, there was over-reliance on “scripting” and very infrequent use of actuality such that one did not often hear directly from the person being reported.

It would appear also that the reports were not really targeted at the poor and non-literate members of the society. Besides Jigawa Radio, which broadcast a substantial number of its programmes in Hausa, the language used in the other stations as well as the newspapers monitored, besides being English was also elitist.

48 e. Action Points Arising

Although the level of media coverage of justice sector issues, as shown by the monitoring exercise, is quite disappointing both in terms of volume and quality, such a situation is inevitable given the reality on the ground. There is nothing to suggest that there had been any strategic effort prior to the monitoring exercise to use or encourage the media to cover the issues. That being the case, it is apparent that media coverage of justice sector issues had simply been left to chance.

In the face of a variety of issues competing for space and airtime in the media, such an approach can only lead to disappointing results. There needs to be a strategic approach to get the media to report more on justice sector issues and in a manner capable of bringing about the necessary reform in the sector.

The points needs to be made that every media organization, except perhaps those established by the Government as public broadcasting systems, is essentially a business concern trying to make a profit. Every media organization is in competition with others, which means that each of them wants to outsell the others. They suffer the same trials and tribulations that all other businesses go through, since they can only survive by remaining viable and making profit. They must therefore operate on sound business principles in order to survive and flourish.

Although the media has social responsibilities which other types of businesses do not have, the primary preoccupation of every media organization, whether in the print or broadcast sector, is how to sell its product. They want to carry stories, features, or other programmes that will interest members of the public, which will sell their newspapers or magazines or keep listeners or viewers tuned to their stations. Therefore, media organizations will hardly publish or air insipid stories or programmes which, in their judgment, will not sell and only in very rare cases do they do so merely because of the social interest of publicizing an issue or event.

The following measures are suggested as part of efforts to redress the situation:

1. Sensitisation of Journalists

A major challenge is how to raise interest in the media about justice sector issues. There is therefore a need to embark on sensitization programmes targeted generally at the media and journalists on the short and long-term objectives of the Access to Justice Programme and the importance of covering accessible justice issues as part of a process of reforming the justice sector. The sensitisation programme needs to be conducted at several levels, but a key priority would be to target the decision makers within the media on these issues since they determine what goes into the news or other sections in the newspapers, magazines, radio or television. The sensitisation efforts may be carried out through interactive sessions as well as through the dissemination of appropriately packaged literature to the media.

In the course of such a programme of sensitisation, a number of arguments might be called in aid to persuade journalists that they have a responsibility to cover justice sector and human rights issues. Firstly, the media shares, or ought to share, a common interest in the quest for social

49 justice, which would naturally encompass justice sector and human rights matters. A major object of the work of the media appears geared towards redressing injustices and shortcomings in the society. To that extent, the media has an interest in supporting the efforts to reform the justice sector to make it more effective.

Secondly, the media enjoys special protection under the Constitution, as well as under various regional and international human rights instruments because of the guarantees of freedom of expression provided in such documents. This protection derives from the recognition that the media plays a special role in society with its responsibility to inform, to entertain and to educate members of the public, and as such, serves a public interest function. Since the media enjoys special protection in recognition of its public interest function, it follows that for it to continue to lay claim to such protection, it must continue to perform this public service, especially by championing the interests of vulnerable groups and persons. The media cannot, therefore, take editorial decisions based only on commercial considerations.

Thirdly, an obligation to perform a public interest function is also imposed on the media by some legal instruments. For instance, the 1999 Constitution provides in its Section 22, under Chapter Two of the Constitution (Fundamental Objectives and Directive Principles of State Policy) that “The press, radio, television and other agencies of the mass media shall at all times be free to uphold the fundamental objectives contained in this Chapter and uphold the responsibility and accountability of the Government to the people.” The reference here to the responsibility and accountability of the Government obviously includes issues of access to justice and respect for human rights.

At the international level, as far back as 1960, the United Nations Economic and Social Council, at its 29th Session, in its Resolution 756 (XXIX) of 21 April 1960, adopted a declaration on freedom of information wherein it stressed that the “Media of information should be employed in the service of the people…”

It is apparent from these that the media has social and legal responsibilities to work towards the promotion of access to justice, especially for the poor and vulnerable in society as well as the protection of human rights. The media, therefore, has a duty to devote time and space to the articulation of these issues as part of its social and legal responsibility of informing and educating members of the public. Such a duty would include giving attention to cases of violations of human rights, denial of access to justice, the promotion of efforts to reform the justice sector to ensure better delivery of justice, and generally creating a forum for debates and discussions on the issues.

2. Cultivating Reporters Committed to Reporting Justice Sector Issues

While it is important to create a receptive attitude among media managers for stories and reports on justice sector issues, it is also important to recognize that journalists at that level rarely do actual writing of reports and stories themselves. It is therefore necessary to also develop a programme to engage reporters and correspondents with the aim of cultivating a core of reporters who are committed to ensuring maximum reporting and projection of Accessible Justice issues. In virtually all media organisations, reporters and correspondents specialize in different sectors.

50 For some who have been assigned to “beats”, there may be no real zeal or commitment to the issues relating to that sector and they may be concerned only with looking for stories which will “sell”. But others also develop an affinity with the issues they cover and such journalists are generally better motivated to give greater attention to the issues. Justice sector issues cover a wide variety of beats in media organisations including “Crime”, “Police Affairs”, “Judiciary”, “Legal Affairs”, “Internal Affairs”, etc. Organisations concerned with justice sector issues or reform ought to identify journalists covering such areas and cultivate them. Given that the Access to Justice Programme is a long term project, such an effort will be worthwhile and the Access to Justice Programme ought to invest time, effort and,perhaps, resources in it.

3. Conducting Training for Journalists on Coverage of Justice Sector Issues

Very often, even the most highly motivated journalist might not have the capacity to cover justice sector issues effectively for many reasons. One important reason is that many of the areas which fall within the scope of justice sector issues are specialist areas encompassing law, criminal justice administration, etc. As most journalists only receive general journalism training, if at all, they are not equipped to appreciate and effectively report important issues in these areas. Another issue is that of laziness which results in journalists simply regurgitating what is told to them or put in a press release without critically examining the issues or conducting any investigative reporting. It will therefore be necessary to conduct a series of training workshops for journalists covering these issues, especially in the Access to Justice Programme focal states and, perhaps, in other states. The training would conceivably focus on how to cover accessible justice issues with the objective of expanding their knowledge of the issues and improving their editorial competence and skills in reporting on them. It could also focus on how to conduct investigative journalism in the justice sector areas.

4. Providing Technical Assistance for the Media and Journalists

Where possible, some intervention to strengthen some of the media is recommended especially in the area of technical assistance. This is based on the logic that if the intention is that the Access to Justice Programme will take up to five years, then it should be worthwhile to such investment in developing the media as well, and the benefit of this can be reaped before the expiration of the project through the anticipated improved qualitative and quantitative reporting of Accessible Justice issues. In the course of the monitoring exercise, many of the stations monitored were frequently off air due to technical reasons. While some of the problems were infrastructural, as was the case with the Enugu State Broadcasting Service Radio which went off air anytime there was a prolonged power blackout, in some cases the problem was one of inefficient management of technical resources. A broad programme of technical training or, if thought feasible, equipment support might be considered.

5. Establishing Effective Media Liaisons

Even with all the other factors in place, if the liaison with the media is not properly managed, the result might not be satisfactory. It is possible that we might have increased reporting of our issues, in this case, justice sector issues, but what comes out in the media might not serve our interest or might in fact be quite harmful to the objective. Using the media effectively requires

51 deliberate planning, as well as adopting appropriate methodologies and strategies. It is not an ad hoc process. It is unwise to simply assume that good media coverage can be ensured without making a determined effort in a society that has become highly competitive for media attention. In many ways, therefore, using the media effectively is becoming something of an art as well as a science.

The first step in using the media effectively to promote justice sector issues, or indeed any other issue, is to have media liaisons who have a clear understanding of the nature of the media; its strength and limitations as well as other aspects of the media such as its various forms, their structures, operations, infrastructure, economics, etc.

Such people must be familiar with or must embark on a detailed study of how different media establishments, whether print or broadcast, operate; including their editorial decision making processes, news deadlines, the regularity of their publications or programmes, how they cover different issues, the sections or programmes that they carry, on what days they are carried, what journalists are responsible for covering different issues, etc. These are not issues which require a casual approach.

The second step is really at the heart of the media strategy. It is a set of questions which every organization seeking to use the media needs to ask itself and which it needs to have answers to for it to even begin to approach the media.

The first of these questions is what is the message we are seeking to get into the media? If the message is not clear to the person putting it out or seeking to get the media to carry it, then the chances of communicating it effectively will be very slim.

The second question is who is the target for your message? Having determined the message we want to focus on, we then need to identify the audience that we want to target with the message or messages. This simply means the people we want to reach. Who exactly are we aiming at with out media messages? Are they the poor and vulnerable themselves or are they people in government who can change policy or influence policy? This is important because the message needs to be appropriately framed for the appropriate target and knowing the audience also helps in determining what the best medium is.

The third question is what do we hope to achieve with the message? The main purpose of disseminating information is to change attitudes. But it is a great challenge to learn how to use information to change attitudes. It is of overriding importance that the presentation of the information should be aimed at achieving specific and very clearly defined objectives, otherwise, we may end up using the media against our interest.

We should always think through the whole process of putting out information for media use. We must understand how information affects different groups and we must ask themselves what we hope to achieve with the reports in the media and whether at the end of the day, we can be effective. Pertinent questions therefore would be for what purpose do we want to target a particular audience? Do we seek to influence public policy through the media reports? Are we simply interested in provoking public reaction? Or do we want to ginger the government to take

52 action? Do we want the judge handling a case to sit up? These are some of the issues we need to think about before we present information to the media, because the answers to these questions will determine what information we put out and how we package the information.

A fourth question would be which media should we use in putting out your message? Having identified our target audience, it is important to know how we can reach that audience. With a thorough knowledge and understanding of the media, once the target of the message is determined, the type of media to be used in reaching that target is almost automatically determined. To illustrate this with a fairly obvious example, if the message is targeted at illiterate Fulani cattle rearer in the North, it is useless sending a press release to The Guardian newspaper in Lagos whose primary target audience is the elite and whose language and style are not suited for the barely literate member of the society. The message would never reach the target. The best media would most probably be a radio station that broadcasts in the area where the target audience is and perhaps in a local language.

In the same way, if the message is intended to influence government policy at a national level, little is gained by putting out the message in the Voice of Ekiti Radio in Ado-Ekiti. But it is also well to remember that a single message may not be enough and it may be necessary to use a multi-media strategy, which involves a combination of all or any of the following: radio, television, newspaper, magazine, drama, posters, leaflets, etc.

A fifth question is how should our message be framed? We need to be strategic and systematic in presenting information to the media, whether in the form of press releases or other reports. If the stories or issues are not newsworthy or are poorly presented, then it is unlikely that the media will use them. Information meant for the media must therefore be packaged and presented in such a way that it makes interesting reading or listening/viewing so that the media organizations feel that it is something that their audiences would be interested in.

The different types of media of information also have different presentation formats. The information needs of radio or television are different from those of a newspaper or magazine. This means that we need to present information in a way that it is suited for the medium we have in mind.

If we are creative and resourceful, a variety of programmes and sections exist in the different media, which can be adapted to achieve the objective of drawing attention to human rights and justice sector issues. For instance, journalists can focus attention on a variety of justice sector or human rights issues in reports which would ordinarily fall within other sectors, such as those dealing with health, the judiciary, crime, and legal matters, housing, education, etc.

In newspapers and magazines, besides the usual news reports or feature stories, journalists can also write articles on the opinion pages of these publications and assist in securing editorial comments in support of the major issues. They can also facilitate the publication of opinion articles, letters to the editor, and other reports written by non-staff members of the media organisation.

53 Many news publications also run different sections on each day of the week. Many justice sector or human rights issues will easily fit into these sections. If we work with journalists having responsibility for producing these sections or contributing articles to them, they can ensure that our programmes, issues and views are covered in these sections and thereby achieve a massive and positive impact in the overall coverage of these issues in the media.

In the case of radio and television, drama sketches and soap operas are often run on different issues and they are quite popular among the viewing or listening public. Because drama has a great capacity to reach every segment of the society, including the non-literate and the less enlightened members of the public, we should consider working with the media to produce such drama sketches with clear and specific messages on these issues, which can be targeted at specific groups or the public generally.

54 Appendices

Appendix 1

Topics And Subject Codes

Codes And Descriptions

AJ - Accessible Justice Issues AJ1 - Accessibility AJ2 - Openness AJ3 - Accountability from Top AJ4 - Accountability from Below AJX - Other Relevant Accessible Justice Issues

HRI - Human Rights Issues HRI1 - Experiences And Perception of Women HRI2 - Experiences And Perception of The Poor HRIX - Other Relevant Human Rights Issues

PAI - Public Accountability Issues PAI1 - Self Perception of Justice Sector Officials PAI2 - Corruption in Justice Sector at the State Level PAI3 - Corruption in Justice Sector at the Federal Level PAIX - Other Relevant Public Accountability Issues

Diversity of Sources

Codes And Descriptions

E - Exhaustive I - Inexhaustive N - Not Diverse U - Unspecified X - Not Applicable

Sources

Codes And Descriptions

Police

PPR - Police Public Relations IGC - Inspector General/Police Commissioners/Police Affairs Commission

55 POF - Police Officials

Court System

MOJ - Ministry of Justice/Criminal Justice Committee JDG - Judges CTO - Court Officials LAW - Lawyers

Prison System

COP - Controller of Prisons PRO - Prison Officials INM - Inmates GOF - Government Officials NGO - Non-Governmental Organizations ALT - Analysts and Commentators REL - Religious Leaders FDP - Foreign Diplomats WO - Women ED - Elderly RP - Rural Population UP - Urban Poor YTH - Youths MIG - Migrants ANON - Anonymous Sources OS - Other Sources

Mentions

Codes And Descriptions

NPF - Police CTO - Court Officials LAW - Lawyers NPO - Prison Officials PD - Plaintiff/Defendant WS - Witnesses GOF - Government Officials

NGO - Non-Governmental Organizations ALT - Analysts and Commentators REL - Religious Leaders FDP - Foreign Diplomats

56 WO - Women ED - Elderly RP - Rural Population UP - Urban Poor YTH - Youths MIG - Migrants ANON - Anonymous Sources OM - Other Mentions

Sound bite

YES - Sound Bite Used NO - No Sound Bite Used

News agency

SM - Same Media OLM - Other Local Media FM - Foreign Media NAN - News Agency of Nigeria NS - Not Specified

57 Appendix 2

Overall Duration of Topics/Programmes (%) - Radio Benue II FM (MAY - JULY, 2003)

Topic Name Duration of Progs. Percentage (%) Accessible Justice Issues 2 hours, 4 mins 2.48

Human Rights Issues 1, hour, 3 mins 1.79

Public Accountability Issues 1 hour, 22 mins 1.65

Other Issues 78 hours, 2 mins 94.08

Total 83 hours, 20 mins 100.00

Overall Duration of Topics/Programmes - Radio Benue II FM 2% 2%

ACCESSIBLE JUSTICE 2% IS S UE S

HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUES

PUBLIC ACCOUNTABILITY IS S UE S

OTHERS

94%

58 Appendix 3

Overall Duration of Topics/Programmes (%) - ESBS 2 96.1 FM, Enugu (MAY - JULY, 2003)

Topic Name Duration of Progs. Percentage (%) Accessible Justice Issues 2 hours, 52 mins 3.75

Human Rights Issues 1 hour, 8 mins 1.47

Public Accountability Issues 1 hour, 23 mins 1.80

Other Issues 71 hours, 10 mins 92.98

Total 76 hours, 3 mins 100.00

Overall Duration of Topics/Programmes - ESBS 2 96.1 FM, Enugu 1% 4% 2% ACCESSI BLE JUST I CE I SSUES HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUES

PUBLIC ACCOUNTABILITY ISSUES OTHERS 93%

59 Appendix 4

Overall Duration of Topics/Programmes (%) - Ray Power 100.5 FM, Abuja (MAY - JULY, 2003)

Topic Name Duration of Progs Percentage (%) Accessible Justice Issues 20 mins 0.40

Human Rights Issues 2 hours, 5 mins 2.48

Public Accountability Issues 27 mins 0.55

Other Issues 81 hours, 37 mins 96.57

Total 84 hours, 31 mins 100.00

Overall Duration of Topics/Programmes - Ray Power 100.5 FM, Abuja 2% 0% 1%

ACCESSIBLE JUSTICE ISSUES HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUES

PUBLIC ACCOUNTABILITY ISSUES OTHERS

97%

60 Appendix 5

Overall Duration of Topics/Programmes (%) - Jigawa Radio (MAY - JULY, 2003)

Topic Name Duration of Progs Percentage (%) Accessible Justice Issues 25 mins 0.47

Human Rights Issues 1 hour, 35 mins 1.83

Public Accountability Issues 47 mins 0.92

Other Issues 84 hours, 16 mins 96.78

Total 87 hours, 4 mins 100.00

Overall Duration of Topics/Programmes - Jigawa Radio

0% 2% ACCESSIBLE JUSTICE 1% IS S UE S HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUES

PUBLIC ACCOUNTABILITY IS S UE S OTHERS 97%

61 Appendix 6

Overall Duration of Topics/Programmes (%) - Voice of Ekiti Radio (MAY - JULY, 2003)

Topic Name Duration of Progs Percentage (%) Accessible Justice Issues 1 hour, 7 mins 1.25

Human Rights Issues 27 mins 0.51

Public Accountability Issues 1 hour, 22 mins 1.51

Other Issues 85 hours, 48 mins 96.73

Total 88 hours, 42 mins 100.00

Overall Duration of Topics/Programmes - Voice of Ekiti Radio 1% 1% 2% ACCESSIBLE JUSTICE ISSUES

HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUES

PUBLIC ACCOUNTABILITY ISSUES OTHERS 96%

62 Appendix 7

Overall Duration of Topics/Programmes (%) Star 101.5 FM, Lagos (MAY - JULY, 2003)

Topic Name Duration of Progs. Percentage(%) Accessible Justice Issues 23 mins 1.25

Human Rights Issues 13 mins 0.70

Public Accountability Issues 27 mins 1.53

Other Issues 28 hours, 26 mins 96.52

Total 30 hours, 1 min 100.00

Overall Duration of Topics/Programmes - Star 101.5 FM, Lagos

1% 1% 2% A C C E S S IB L E J U S T IC E IS S U E S

HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUES

PUBLIC ACCOUNTABILITY ISSUES OTHERS 96%

63 Appendix 8

Overall Duration of Topics/Programmes (%) - Radio Nigeria 1, Lagos (MAY - JULY, 2003)

Topic Name Duration of Progs Percentage (%) Accessible Justice Issues 1 hour, 47 mins 1.88

Human Rights Issues 1 hour, 55 mins 2.34

Public Accountability Issues 2 hours, 49 mins 2.98

Others 87 hours, 45 mins 92.80

Total 94 hours, 34 mins 100.00

Overall Duration of Topics/Programmes - Radio Nigeria 1, Lagos

2% 2% 3%

ACCESSIBLE JUSTICE ISSUES

HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUES

PUBLIC ACCOUNTABILITY ISSUES

OTHERS

93%

64 Appendix 9

Overall Duration of Topics/Programmes (%) - All Radio Stations Monitored (MAY - JULY, 2003)

Topic Name Duration of Progs. Percentage (%) Accessible Justice Issues 8 hours, 57 mins 1.64

Human Rights Issues 9 hours, 11 mins 1.69

Public Accountability Issues 8 hours, 37 mins 1.58

Others 517 hours, 3 mins 95.09

Total 544 hours, 19 mins 100.00

Overall Duration of Topics/Programmes - All Radio Stations Monitored 2% 2% 2%

ACCESSIBLE JUSTICE ISSUES

HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUES

PUBLIC ACCOUNTABILITY IS S UE S 94% OTHERS

65 Appendix 10

Media Monitoring Project of Public Perceptions on Accessible Justice

First Bi-monthly Report (May 5 to May 16, 2003)

Introduction

This is the first bimonthly summary issued by Media Rights Agenda under the Media Monitoring Project of Public Perceptions on Accessible Justice. It covers the monitoring for the first two weeks of the exercise (Monday, May 5 to Friday, May 9 and Saturday, May 10 to Friday, May 16, 2003).

General Observations

The period covered by this report fell within the weeks immediately after the general elections which were held on April 12 and 19 as well as May 3, 2003. Media focus during this period was therefore on the elections and its aftermath with the result that political stories dominated virtually all the media monitored. Some of the access to justice issues which were monitored as falling within the scope of relevant issues under this project related to the Election Tribunals set up to adjudicate on election petitions and other legal issues relating to the elections.

Specific Observations

The following brief observations are made in respect of each of the stations being monitored:

Radio

Benue Radio, Makurdi During the first week of the project, a total of 365 items were monitored on Radio Benue, Makurdi, covering 24,402 seconds (6 hours and 40 minutes) of airtime. Twelve of these items related to issues of accessible justice, human rights and public accountability. The 12 items took 966 seconds (16.1 minutes) of airtime. There was no appreciable focus on poor people.

During the second week, a total of 418 items were monitored, covering 23,565 seconds (6 hours and 54 minutes) of airtime. Twenty-eight of these items related to issues of accessible justice, human rights and public accountability. The 28 items took 1,501 seconds (25 minutes) of airtime. There was no reflection of voices or experiences of poor people in the reports as they were dominated by political issues.

Voice of Ekiti, Ado-Ekiti There was very scanty coverage of access to justice issues on Voice of Ekiti during the period covered by this report. During the first week, a total of 176 items were monitored, covering 19,070 seconds (approximately 5 hours and 30 minutes) of airtime. Only 5 of these items related

66 to issues of accessible justice, human rights and public accountability. The five items took 363 seconds (6 minutes and 5 seconds) of airtime. But the prominent sources used in these few reports included urban poor and women, in addition to government officials.

During the second week, a total of 372 items were monitored, covering 22,839 seconds (6 hours and 34 minutes) of airtime. Only 2 of the items related to issues of accessible justice, human rights and public accountability. These two items took 56 seconds of airtime. Even these two items were not given any prominent treatment or included in the highpoints of news items.

Jigawa Radio, Dutse Jigawa Radio showed relatively appreciable coverage of access to justice issues during the period covered by this report. During the first week of the project, a total of 350 items were monitored, covering 23,221 seconds (6 hours and 45 minutes) of airtime. Sixteen of these items related to issues of accessible justice, human rights and public accountability. The 16 items took 808 seconds (13.46 minutes) of airtime. Most of the items were broadcast in the local language, Hausa, apparently in an attempt to target the poorer sections of the society. Voices of poor people were also often reflected in broadcasts in vernacular. The relevant items were frequently given prominent treatment in the in the news and reports, although any story about the Inspector- General of Police generally got more prominent treatment.

During the second week, a total of 402 items were monitored, covering 23,627 seconds (6 hours and 56 minutes). Fourteen of these items related to issues of accessible justice, human rights and public accountability. The 14 items took 787 seconds (13.11 minutes) of airtime. Government sources were very dominant in the reports, although they often addressed issues affecting rural populations and women. But there were no voices of the poor.

Enugu State Broadcasting Service, Enugu During the first week of the project, a total of 341 items were monitored on the Enugu State Broadcasting Service, covering 26,657 seconds (7 hours and 40 minutes) of airtime. Sixteen of these related to issues of accessible justice, human rights and public accountability. These took 1,108 seconds (18.47 minutes) of airtime. Most of the relevant items were from government sources, with almost negligible reflection of “voices of the poor”.

During the second week, a total of 234 items were monitored, covering 17,282 seconds (4 hours and 8 minutes) of airtime. Sixteen of these related to issues of accessible justice, human rights and public accountability. These took 1,115 seconds (18.58 minutes) of airtime. There was more reflection of poor people than in the previous week, although their voices and experiences remained low.

RayPower 2, Abuja During the first week of the project, a total of 213 items were monitored on RayPower 2, Abuja, covering 13,557 seconds (3 hours and 40 minutes) of airtime. Only eight of these related to issues of accessible justice, human rights and public accountability. These took 417 seconds (6.95 minutes) of airtime. These relevant items received comprehensive coverage.

67 During the second week, a total of 289 items were monitored, covering 18,923 seconds (5 hours and 26 minutes) of airtime. Only 5 of these related to issues of accessible justice, human rights and public accountability. These took 202 seconds (3.36 minutes) of airtime. There was hardly any reflection of the voices or perception of poor people in the coverage.

Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria, Lagos During the first week of the project, a total of 221 items were monitored on the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria in Lagos, covering 16,408 seconds (4 hours and 55 minutes) of airtime. Thirty-seven of these related to issues of accessible justice, human rights and public accountability, making it the station with the most coverage of the relevant issues. The 37 items took 2,806 seconds (47.6 minutes) of airtime. In most of the reports, the views of poor and vulnerable groups were not given adequate coverage.

During the second week, a total of 642 items were monitored, covering 17,685 seconds (4 hours and 58 minutes) of airtime. Fifty of these related to issues of accessible justice, human rights and public accountability. These took 2,827 seconds (47.11 minutes) of airtime. The station also recorded the highest volume of coverage in the second week of monitoring. The voices, views, experiences and expectations of poor people were not given much coverage or prominence as there was hardly any reflection of the voices or perception of poor people in the coverage.

Star FM Radio, Lagos During the first week of the project, a total of 210 items were monitored on Star FM radio in Lagos, covering 10,440 seconds (2 hours and 50 minutes) of airtime. Eighteen of these related to issues of accessible justice, human rights and public accountability. These took 658 seconds (10.9 minutes) of airtime. There was no reflection of the views and experiences of poor people nor was there are particular attention paid to issues relating to the poor.

During the second week, a total of 231 items were monitored, covering 11,880 seconds (3 hours and 30 minutes) of airtime. Twenty of these related to issues of accessible justice, human rights and public accountability. These took 1,075 seconds (17.91 minutes) of airtime. There was more attention paid to issues relating to the poor during the week than in the previous week.

Newspapers

As the state newspapers had not been received from the various states where they are published, only three national newspapers were monitored during the first week of the project. These are the Daily Times, Daily Trust and The Guardian.

The coverage of issues related to accessible justice, human rights and public accountability in these newspapers was rather scanty relative to the reporting of other issues. There was also very scanty reference to poor people and other vulnerable groups. These may have been as a result of the elitist nature of the national newspapers as they tend to target the more influential and literate members of the society.

68 During the second week of the project, seven newspapers were monitored. There were the Daily Times, Daily Trust, The Guardian, The Voice (weekly newspaper from Benue State), The New Times (a privately owned newspaper from Benue State), the Weekly Star and The Republican (from Enugu State).

In both the national newspapers and the provincial ones, the prominence given to issues of accessible justice, human rights and public accountability remained poor and the volume of reports was negligible relative to other issues. Except for minor exceptions, not much effort was made to report on the relevant issues in a manner that would interest the poor in both urban and rural areas. Apart from the elitist language, most of the stories were written to appeal to the more influential members of the society.

69 Appendix 11

Media Monitoring Project of Public Perceptions on Accessible Justice

Second Bi-monthly Report (May 19 to May 31, 2003)

Introduction

This is the second bimonthly summary issued by Media Rights Agenda under the Media Monitoring Project of Public Perceptions on Accessible Justice. Besides strict accessible justice issues, the monitoring also covered other related issues such as human rights and public accountability. The report covers the monitoring for the second fortnight of the exercise (Monday, May 19 to Saturday, May 31). The time fell within the period leading up to the inauguration of the President and the governors of the various states and immediately after. The following summary observations are made on each of the radio stations being monitored:

Radio

Benue Radio, Makurdi • Total Items Monitored: 809 items • Airtime devoted to items: 52,303 seconds • Total Relevant Items: 74 items • Total Duration of Relevant Items: 5,781 seconds • Accessible Justice Items: 28 items (2,602 seconds) • Human Rights Items: 24 items (1,346 seconds) • Public Accountability Items: 22 items (1,833 seconds) • Extent of focus on the poor: Low

The relevant items covered on the station during the period under review include stories about: the IG warning against public processions; the police shooting to death two “robbery suspects”; the Abia State Chief Judge lamenting the condition of prisons in the state; Benue State Police Commissioner touring formations under his command; nine persons arrested for drug trafficking; police arresting 14 militiamen over a land dispute; robbers killing policemen and robbing passengers while the police gunned down a suspected robber in an attempt to escape; Governor Akume’s promise to be in the vanguard in the promotion of social justice; Police warning criminals in Benue State to stop their activities and assuring members of the public of security; and a gang robbing a Makurdi resident in his home.

Voice of Ekiti, Ado-Ekiti • Total Items Monitored: 862 items • Airtime devoted to items: 51,915 seconds • Total Relevant Items: 1 item • Total Duration of Relevant Items: 43 seconds • Accessible Justice Items: None

70 • Human Rights Items: 1 item (43 seconds) • Public Accountability Items: None • Extent of focus on the poor: None

There was virtually no coverage of accessible justice issues during the period covered by this report. The station was frequently off air and during the times it broadcast, elections and political news dominated it. The only human rights issue related to trans-border child trafficking and the plight of abandoned children.

Jigawa Radio, Dutse • Total Items Monitored: 777 items • Airtime devoted to items: 49,073 seconds • Total Relevant Items: 32 Items • Total Duration of Relevant Items: 1,561 seconds • Accessible Justice Items: 3 items (139 seconds) • Human Rights Items: 24 items (1,346 seconds) • Public Accountability Items: 22 items (1,833 seconds) • Extent of focus on the poor: Low

The relevant items covered on the station during the period under review include stories about: The IG warning the public against holding rallies without police permission and alleging plans to disrupt the May 29 inauguration; Dutse Emirate Council dismissing a representative of the District head over alleged cheating of two widows; Jigawa State Police Command promising adequate security during the inauguration ceremony; Jigawa Electoral Tribunal Promising to discharge its duties without fear or favour; and Code of Conduct Bureau directing all political office holders to collect asset declaration forms or face consequences.

Enugu State Broadcasting Service, Enugu • Total Items Monitored: 544 items • Airtime devoted to items: 39,995 seconds • Total Relevant Items: 36 items • Total Duration of Relevant Items: 3,044 seconds • Accessible Justice Items: 22 items (1,496 seconds) • Human Rights Items: 11 items (1,243 seconds) • Public Accountability Items: 1 item (57 seconds) • Extent of focus on the poor: Low

News and reports relating to the inauguration of President Obasanjo and the various state governors and the events leading up to them overshadowed all other broadcasts on the stations. But as part of the inauguration ceremonies, there were various political statements and promises made by both the President and some governors on the socio-economic circumstances of poor people. Because of the status of the persons making these statements, they received some prominence on the station. Other relevant items covered on the station during the period under review include stories about: the Abuja Federal High Court nullifying the ICPC Act; the IG urging his men to ensure tight security before and after the inauguration; the IG calling for

71 tougher sanctions against child and women traffickers; govt. panel on the review of disengaged workers commencing sitting; Bayelsa State Govt. directing youths in the state to surrender firearms in their possession; Code of Conduct Bureau commencing asset verification of outgoing political office holders; and the Police deploying 250,000 men to ensure maximum security during the inauguration.

RayPower 2, Abuja • Total Items Monitored: 528 Items • Airtime devoted to items: 41,770 seconds • Total Relevant Items: 3 items • Total Duration of Relevant Items: 168 seconds • Accessible Justice Items: None • Human Rights Items: 2 items (100 seconds) • Public Accountability Items: None • Extent of focus on the poor: None

The station was frequently off air during the period covered by this report and when it broadcast, it was dominated by politics and sports. This was especially the case during the second week when the inauguration also dominated the station and there was virtually no report of relevance. The relevant story monitored during the period was the Nigerian Immigration Service expressing concern over growing human trafficking in Ebonyi State.

Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria, Lagos • Total Items Monitored: 1,092 items • Airtime devoted to items: 33,328 seconds • Total Relevant Items: 64 items • Total Duration of Relevant Items: 3,239 seconds • Accessible Justice Items: 13 items (764 seconds) • Human Rights Items: 24 items (1,300 seconds) • Public Accountability Items: 26 items (1,205 seconds) • Extent of focus on the poor: Low

The relevant items covered on the station during the period under review include stories about: IG calling for tougher sanctions against trafficking in minors and women; the IG warning against breach of the peace; IG warning against holding public rallies without police permit; police arresting four members of an alleged armed robbery gang involved in stealing about N40 million from two banks last year; Lagos State Police awaiting white paper on reorganizations of motor parks; Federal High Court declaring amended ICPC Act void; IG directing AIGs and commissioners to provide adequate security during inauguration; robbery gang operating in police and army uniforms in Delta State smashed; FG approving appointment of 3 justices of Court of Appeal; 9 persons arrested for drug trafficking; National Human Rights Commission working for adoption of Plan of Action for protection of human rights; Plateau Police reminding the public of Public Order Act; Court granting Omisore bail; and Ekiti State Police Command parading 15 suspected armed robbers and 5 receivers of stolen goods.

72 Star FM Radio, Lagos • Total Items Monitored: 492 Items • Airtime devoted to items: 21,600 seconds • Total Relevant Items: 14 items • Total Duration of Relevant Items: 667 seconds • Accessible Justice Items: 5 items (231 seconds) • Human Rights Items: 3 items (130 seconds) • Public Accountability Items: 7 items (387 seconds) • Extent of focus on the poor: Low

The stations dwelt during the period on issues relating to the inauguration ceremonies. The relevant items covered on the station during the period under review include stories about: The Nigerian Police saying it intends to eradicate trafficking in women and children; IG calling on all state commissioners to ensure adequate security before and after inauguration; court threatening to order arrest of Senate President and Speaker of House of Representatives over ICPC Act; and President Obasanjo pledging tougher stance against corruption during second term.

Newspapers

During the period covered by this report, seven newspaper titles were monitored namely the Daily Times, Daily Trust, The Guardian, Ekiti Now (a weekly from Ekiti State), The New Times (privately owned from Benue State), the Weekly Star (state-owned from Enugu State), and the Voice (state-owned weekly from Benue State). The eighth newspaper, the Republican (a privately owned weekly from Enugu State), was not published during the period under review and was therefore not available for monitoring. A total of 1,436.11 square inches of space was devoted to issues relating to accessible justice, human rights and public accountability in all the newspapers monitored. A breakdown per newspaper is as follows:

• Daily Times (439.43 square inches) • Daily Trust (179.22 square inches) • The Guardian (491.3 square inches) • The Voice (86.15 square inches) • The New Times (154.21 square inches) • Ekiti Now (31.2 square inches) • The Weekly Star (54.6 square inches)

In both the national newspapers and the provincial ones, the prominence given to issues of accessible justice, human rights and public accountability was very poor and the volume of reports was negligible compared to the coverage received by other issues, particularly politics and sports. Coverage during the period centered on the inauguration of President Olusegun Obasanjo and the governors-elect in the various states. Focus on the poor was very low. Most of the relevant issues covered by the newspapers arose from cases filed in various Election Petition Tribunals by defeated candidates in the recently concluded elections.

73 Appendix 12

Media Monitoring Project of Public Perceptions on Accessible Justice

Third Bi-monthly Report (June 2 to 14, 2003)

Introduction

This is the third bimonthly summary issued by Media Rights Agenda under the Media Monitoring Project of Public Perceptions on Accessible Justice. Besides strict accessible justice issues, the monitoring also covered other related issues such as human rights and public accountability. The report covers the monitoring for the third fortnight of the exercise (Monday, June 2 to Saturday, June 14). The following summary observations are made on each of the media being monitored:

Radio

Benue Radio, Makurdi • Total Items Monitored: 801 items • Airtime devoted to items: 49,190 seconds • Total Relevant Items: 94 items • Total Duration of Relevant Items: 5,120 seconds • Accessible Justice Items: 37 items (1,940 seconds) • Human Rights Items: 32 items (1,750 seconds) • Public Accountability Items: 25 items (1,430 seconds) • Extent of focus on the poor: Low

Relevant items covered during period under review include stories about: CJN Uwais calling for close monitoring of judicial officers to ensure transparency; plans by Ado community to establish vigilante groups following frequent harassment by armed robbers; 8 persons arraigned in court for alleged complicity in political killings; Election Tribunal chairman warning lawyers against delays in the handling of cases; Police blamed for prison congestion in Lagos and Ogun States; 20-year old student charged to court for causing the death of another student; Police Commissioner happy with Police-Public relations; Plateau Police arrest 6 youths for allegedly beating a man to death for preventing them from raping his daughter; elderly women accused of promoting dehumanizing practices against widows; Police Commissioner stressing need for discipline in the force; 3 soldiers jailed for beating civilians; death of alleged leader of a robbery gang in shootout with the police; Police Commissioner assuring Benue people of security during local government elections; Judge warning judicial officers against corruption; Police accused of killing robbery suspect; and 12 inmates of Abakiliki prison granted amnesty.

Voice of Ekiti, Ado-Ekiti • Total Items Monitored: 837 items • Airtime devoted to items: 46,280 seconds

74 • Total Relevant Items: 7 items • Total Duration of Relevant Items: 300 seconds • Accessible Justice Items: 1 Item (20 seconds) • Human Rights Items: 4 items (160 seconds) • Public Accountability Items: 2 Items (130 seconds) • Extent of focus on the poor: None

Relevant items covered during the period under review include stories about: CJN Uwais saying the National Judicial Institute has set up a committee to monitor transparency in the judicial system; Lagos House of Assembly probing virginity tests in school without consent of parents of affected students; and Police extortion of money and extra-judicial killings.

Jigawa Radio, Dutse • Total Items Monitored: 680 items • Airtime devoted to items: 41,300 seconds • Total Relevant Items: 30 Items • Total Duration of Relevant Items: 1,290 seconds • Accessible Justice Items: 5 items (240 seconds) • Human Rights Items: 17 items (720 seconds) • Public Accountability Items: 8 items (340 seconds) • Extent of focus on the poor: Low

Relevant items covered during the period under review include stories about: Zamfara State government setting up a Public Complaints Commission to hear the plight of people in the state; Code of Conduct Bureau directing all in-coming and former public officers to declare assets or face sanctions; Jigawa State governor granting amnesty to 7 prisoners to mark democracy day; Code of Conduct Bureau saying it has completed asset verification for all public and political officer holders nationwide: and Kaduna State Election Tribunal dismissing suit by the ANPP against Governor Ahmed Makarfi’s re-election.

Enugu State Broadcasting Service, Enugu • Total Items Monitored: 621 items • Airtime devoted to items: 44,630 seconds • Total Relevant Items: 66 items • Total Duration of Relevant Items: 6,470 seconds • Accessible Justice Items: 46 items (5,310 seconds) • Human Rights Items: 12 items (1,130 seconds) • Public Accountability Items: 8 item (40 seconds) • Extent of focus on the poor: Low

Relevant items covered during the period under review include stories about: Legislator pledging to promote interest of women; Enugu Chief Judge to tour prisons; in the face of rising crime in Enugu State, the State Police restates its commitment to provide security; Enugu Chief Judge frees 70 prisoners, grants bail to 60 other suspects; Enugu Police declares girl missing; 9 secondary school students arrested by police for allegedly manufacturing firearms; Police

75 declares man wanted over theft; Enugu Police to recruit more personnel from among indigenes of the state; Police I.G. calls for more action to fight the 419 syndrome; and Imo State police to set up monitoring unit to check excesses of its personnel.

RayPower 2, Abuja • Total Items Monitored: 512 Items • Airtime devoted to items: 40,980 seconds • Total Relevant Items: 4 items • Total Duration of Relevant Items: 2,860 seconds • Accessible Justice Items: None • Human Rights Items: 2 items (2,760 seconds) • Public Accountability Items: 2 Items (90 seconds) • Extent of focus on the poor: None

Relevant items covered during the period under review include stories about: 2 employees of Federal Capital Development Authority standing trial for cheating; case of forgery and perjury against Kogi State Governor in court; and concern over growing human trafficking in Ebonyi State.

Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria, Lagos • Total Items Monitored: 1,228 items • Airtime devoted to items: 77,450 seconds • Total Relevant Items: 76 items • Total Duration of Relevant Items: 4,340 seconds • Accessible Justice Items: 23 items (1,220 seconds) • Human Rights Items: 18 items (810 seconds) • Public Accountability Items: 35 items (2,310 seconds) • Extent of focus on the poor: Moderate

Relevant items covered during the period under review include stories about: Sharia Court of Appeal in Katsina State to hear appeal by Amina Lawal challenging death sentence passed on her by a sharia court for adultery; CJN Uwais says National Judicial Council has set up a committee to monitor activities of judicial officers to ensure transparency in their functions; Amina Lawal’s appeal postponed as only 2 of the 4 judges showed up; Anambra State Police spokesman says anybody removing properties belonging to local governments would be arrested; Lagos Airport Police arrest 21 suspects for alleged involvement in criminal activities at the Ikeja Airport; Bauchi State Governor says he will speed up tempo of sharia implementation in the state; Gombe Police Commissioner confirms arrest of 2 suspected criminals; Kwara Police Commissioner confirms that robbers injured 8 people attacked in their homes; Code of Conduct Tribunal chairman says 130 cases of public officers and politicians failing to declare assets were recorded in Katsina State and that those convicted would either be dismissed or fined; FCT Police ejects over 3,000 ex-soldiers loitering the streets in Abuja; Benue State Customary Court of Appeal gets new president; and Prosecution in Iyiola Omisore’s trial for Bola Ige’s murder applies for reassignment of case to another judge.

76 Star FM Radio, Lagos • Total Items Monitored: 444 Items • Airtime devoted to items: 22,980 seconds • Total Relevant Items: 9 items • Total Duration of Relevant Items: 430 seconds • Accessible Justice Items: 4 items (150 seconds) • Human Rights Items: 1 item (60 seconds) • Public Accountability Items: 4 items (220 seconds) • Extent of focus on the poor: Low

Relevant items covered during the period under review include stories about: Amina Lawal’s appeal against death sentence by a sharia court for adultery; and President Obasanjo’s pledge to amend Anti-Corruption Act.

Newspapers

During the period covered by this report, 7 newspaper titles were monitored namely the Daily Times, Daily Trust, The Guardian, Ekiti Now, The New Times, the Voice, and The Republican. The Weekly Star was not published during the period under review and was therefore not available for monitoring. A total of 1,999 square inches of space was devoted to issues relating to accessible justice, human rights and public accountability in all the newspapers monitored. A breakdown per newspaper is as follows:

• Daily Times (345 square inches) • Daily Trust (353 square inches) • The Guardian (375 square inches) • The Voice (22 square inches) • The New Times (130 square inches) • Ekiti Now (25 square inches) • The Republican (90 square inches)

As in the previous report, in both the national newspapers and the provincial ones, the prominence given to issues of accessible justice, human rights and public accountability remained very poor. Focus on the poor also remained extremely low.

77 Appendix 13

Media Monitoring Project of Public Perceptions on Accessible Justice

Fourth Bi-monthly Report (June 16 to 28, 2003)

Introduction

This is the fourth bimonthly summary issued by Media Rights Agenda under the Media Monitoring Project of Public Perceptions on Accessible Justice. The report covers the monitoring for the third fortnight of the exercise (Monday, June 16 to Saturday, June 28). The following summary observations are made on each of the media being monitored:

Radio

Benue Radio, Makurdi • Total Items Monitored: 716 items • Airtime devoted to items: 45,770 seconds • Total Relevant Items: 38 items • Total Duration of Relevant Items: 1,060 seconds • Accessible Justice Items: 24 items (950 seconds) • Human Rights Items: 10 items (550 seconds) • Public Accountability Items: 4 items (140 seconds) • Extent of focus on the poor: Low

Relevant items covered during period under review include: Arraignment of a traditional ruler in Abia State on charges of stealing and illegal possession of firearms; robbers harass residents of Katsina Ala; teenager detained for killing mother of 5 and 2 others for money making ritual; CJN Uwais asks judicial officers to stop illegal conduct or face disciplinary action; Police kill 2 armed robbery suspects; 419 suspect Fred Ajudua’s lawyer asks court to quash case against him; youth sentenced to one month in jail for theft; and 4 landlords in Makurdi sentenced for breaching sanitation laws

Voice of Ekiti, Ado-Ekiti • Total Items Monitored: 939 items • Airtime devoted to items: 54,420 seconds • Total Relevant Items: 52 Items • Total Duration of Relevant Items: 2,610 seconds • Accessible Justice Items: 29 Items (20 seconds) • Human Rights Items: 4 items (140 seconds) • Public Accountability Items: 19 Items (790 seconds) • Extent of focus on the poor: Low

78 Relevant items covered during the period under review include: Lagos Judiciary set to flush out ghost workers on its payroll; CJN Uwais warns judicial officers to abide by Code of Conduct; murder suspect, Senator Iyiola Omisore’s lawyer refutes rumours that government was involved in the bail granted him by an Ibadan High Court; President Obasanjo ready to testify in court to defend electoral victory; Ekiti Election Tribunal adjourns for verdict in petition by AD challenging election of the State governor and deputy; Oyo State Election Tribunal voids election of 2 members of the State House of Assembly; INEC’s lawyer claims Senate President Wabara misled the court in obtaining order; Senior Advocate of Nigeria Jibola Olanipekun killed in his house by unknown gunmen; more election tribunals may be set up in Anambra State to handle flood of petitions; law-maker asks Federal Government to establish special police squad to check rising cases of 419; Economic and Financial Crimes Commission arrests federal legislator for 419; 12 persons arraigned before Ado-Ekiti magistrate court for disrupting religious crusade; Justice Party’s petition dismissed by Presidential Elections Tribunal in Abuja for lack of diligent prosecution; President Obasanjo appoints new judges; Police to begin recruitment of new officers; 12 persons arrested for allegedly molesting former President Babangida; Bayelsa State High Court judge laments level of corruption in the country; President of Ijaw Youths Association and 8 others charged with threatening life of former petroleum minister; Ekiti Police arrest 5 robbery suspects; Oyo Police claims it has useful information to solve murder of Olanipekun; Mobile policemen from Akure arrive Ibadan to check increasing spate of robberies and related crimes; Federal Government approves establishment of new anti-crime unit for Oyo State; Appeal Court summons President Obasanjo to appear over petition by APGA presidential candidate, Chief Ojukwu; Ekiti Election Tribunal strikes out petition by AD against Governor Fayose’s election; Lagos High Court grants injunction restraining NLC from embarking on nation-wide strike over increase in price of petrol, and NLC describes injunction as abuse of court process.

Jigawa Radio, Dutse • Total Items Monitored: 944 items • Airtime devoted to items: 49,660 seconds • Total Relevant Items: 36 Items • Total Duration of Relevant Items: 1,770 seconds • Accessible Justice Items: 9 items (380 seconds) • Human Rights Items: 20 items (980 seconds) • Public Accountability Items: 7 items (410 seconds) • Extent of focus on the poor: Moderate

Relevant items covered during the period under review include: Jigawa Police Commissioner warns against illegal killing of people alleged to practice witchcraft; CJN Uwais warns judicial officers to abide by code of conduct or face disciplinary action; Angaza Local Government council in Jigawa promises to provide materials to vigilante groups in the area; and Sokoto State government plans to ban female children from hawking so they can go to school.

Enugu State Broadcasting Service, Enugu • Total Items Monitored: 615 items • Airtime devoted to items: 51,730 seconds • Total Relevant Items: 38 items

79 • Total Duration of Relevant Items: 3,480 seconds • Accessible Justice Items: 10 items (780 seconds) • Human Rights Items: 6 items (340 seconds) • Public Accountability Items: 22 item (2,360 seconds) • Extent of focus on the poor: Low

Relevant items covered during the period under review include: INEC urges Abuja High Court to continue case challenging Senate President’s victory; Enugu State government introduces aggressive police surveillance in the state capital; 5 suspected armed robbers shot dead in Enugu; Enugu Police to recruit new officers; Poor state of the Police and the need to equip the Police (commentary); 2 new High Court judges sworn-in in Enugu; High Court judge appeals to the media to intensify efforts to end ignorance in the society; Police IG warns policemen against illegal detention of people; and Anambra Police arrest 2 suspects over alleged kidnapping of a boy.

RayPower 2, Abuja • Total Items Monitored: 664 Items • Airtime devoted to items: 53,730 seconds • Total Relevant Items: 32 items • Total Duration of Relevant Items: 4,020 seconds • Accessible Justice Items: 3 (150 seconds) • Human Rights Items: 21 items (3,510 seconds) • Public Accountability Items: 8 Items (350 seconds) • Extent of focus on the poor: None

Relevant items covered during the period under review include: CLEEN, an NGO, sues Customs over seizure of copies of its publication; 12 inmates of Afikpo prison freed by Acting Chief Judge of Ebonyi State; President Obasanjo to look into allegations of victimization against Yobe State governor; President Obasanjo orders investigation into allegations of bribery against some Nigerian government officials by an American oil service company charged with tax evasion; Federal legislator facing 419 charges asks court for bail; former NDLEA director arraigned before a Federal High Court for stealing; Citibank and 2 of its directors charged to court for money laundering; Ikeja High Court fixes ruling in bail application by federal legislator charged with 419; and new law to ban hawking by girls in Sokoto in the making.

Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria, Lagos • Total Items Monitored: 668 items • Airtime devoted to items: 41,980 seconds • Total Relevant Items: 45 items • Total Duration of Relevant Items: 2,330 seconds • Accessible Justice Items: 13 items (580 seconds) • Human Rights Items: 15 items (770 seconds) • Public Accountability Items: 17 items (990 seconds) • Extent of focus on the poor: Low

80 Relevant items covered during the period under review include: Police constitutes committee to look into allegations made against it by the National Human Rights Commission; Ekiti High Court restrains petroleum marketers in the state from selling petrol above official price of N26 per litre; commercial bus operators in Kaduna embark on strike to protest police harassment and extortion; Police IG says setting up of Highway Crime Protection Taskforce is a direct response to the menace of bandits, increasing rate of accidents, and corrupt practices by policemen on the highways; CJN Uwais advises judicial officers to abide by their code of conduct or face disciplinary action; Rivers Police says it will embark on security awareness campaign to check crime wave in the state; 14 police officers in Ogun State on trial before the disciplinary department for extorting money from motorists; Police parade robbery suspects alleged to have been terrorizing citizens in Ogun State; 18-year old student charged before Abuja magistrate court for selling firearms to gang of robbers, pleads guilty; Police IG says the Nigerian Police Force Cooperative Society will soon transform into a bank, announces another round of massive promotions planned for next year; Oyo Police PRO says CID men from Lagos have arrived Ibadan to investigate the murder of Olanipekun; Police arrest a man for kidnapping 11- year old boy and cutting off his genitals; 2 NEPA officials and 1 other person arrested in Kwara State for allegedly vandalizing and stealing NEPA cables; 12 persons arrested by Police in Zaria for allegedly harassing former President Babangida; CJN Uwais swears in 1 new Supreme Court justice and 3 new Appeal Court justices; Edo Police declare all check points in the state legal, says they are part of efforts to protect lives and property on highways; NBA chairman describes Child Rights Bill as inalienable right of the child; Abuja and Lagos High Courts restrain NLC from embarking on planned strike; NDLEA parades 7 suspects alleged to specialize in smuggling hard drugs through international borders in Lagos; and Oyo Police Commissioner confirms that a gang of robbers struck at Ibadan, killing 3 policemen and 2 civilians, promises that the perpetrators would be brought to book..

Star FM Radio, Lagos • Total Items Monitored: 406 Items • Airtime devoted to items: 9,810 seconds • Total Relevant Items: 5 items • Total Duration of Relevant Items: 240 seconds • Accessible Justice Items: 1 item (40 seconds) • Human Rights Items: 1 item (60 seconds) • Public Accountability Items: 1 item (60 seconds) • Extent of focus on the poor: None

Relevant items covered during the period under review include: Police establishes committee to examine activities of its personnel who refuse to cooperate with National Human Rights Commission; and President Obasanjo orders investigation into allegations of bribery against some government officials.

Newspapers

During the period covered by this report, 7 newspaper titles were monitored namely: Daily Times (Federal Government-owned national daily), Daily Trust (privately owned national daily), The Guardian (privately owned national daily), The New Times (privately owned weekly in

81 Benue State), The Republican (a privately owned weekly in Enugu State), The Weekly Star (Enugu Government owned weekly), and The Forum (a privately owned bimonthly in Ekiti State). Out of a total of 187,390 square inches of space available in all the newspapers, only 1,046 square inches of space were devoted to issues relating to accessible justice, human rights and public accountability in all the newspapers monitored. A breakdown per newspaper is as follows:

• Daily Times (206 square inches) • Daily Trust (261 square inches) • The Guardian (299 square inches) • The New Times (207 square inches) • The Forum (24 square inches) • The Republican (14 square inches) • Weekly Star (35 square inches)

As in the earlier report, the volume of coverage given by both the national and provincial newspapers to issues of accessible justice, human rights and public accountability was very low. Focus by the newspaper reports on the poor and issues relating to them was also extremely low.

82 Appendix 14

Media Monitoring Project of Public Perceptions on Accessible Justice

Fifth Bi-monthly Report (June 30 to July 12, 2003)

Introduction

This is the fifth bimonthly summary issued by Media Rights Agenda under the Media Monitoring Project of Public Perceptions on Accessible Justice. This report covers the monitoring for the fifth fortnight of the exercise (Monday, June 30 to Saturday, July 12). The following summary observations are made on each of the media monitored:

Radio

Benue Radio, Makurdi • Total Items Monitored: 587 Items • Airtime devoted to items: 37, 550 seconds • Total Relevant Items: 13 Items • Total Duration of Relevant Items: 580 seconds • Accessible Justice Items: 1 Item (60 seconds) • Human Rights Items: 4 Items (240 seconds) • Public Accountability Items: 8 Items (290 seconds) • Extent of focus on the poor: Low

Relevant items covered during period under review include: Robbers over-run Katsina Ala; Police promise adequate security of lives and property for Benue people; 3 persons, including a lawyer, arrested for attempting to defraud the Federal Government of N32 million; Police arrest 13 suspected robbers in Kaduna; and Police kill 3 in a clash.

Voice of Ekiti, Ado-Ekiti • Total Items Monitored: 692 Items • Airtime devoted to items: 45,460 seconds • Total Relevant Items: 50 Items • Total Duration of Relevant Items: 2,240 seconds • Accessible Justice Items: 9 Items (540 seconds) • Human Rights Items: 8 Items (350 seconds) • Public Accountability Items: 33 Items (1,350 seconds) • Extent of focus on the poor: Low

Relevant items covered during the period under review include: NLC announces that its planned nationwide strike over petrol price increase will proceed as scheduled, ask workers to ignore Lagos High Court injunction; Kwara Police arrest 4 people over fake currency notes; Police Constable shoots commercial bus driver and passengers over driver’s refusal to give him N20

83 bribe; Former Health Minister, Prof. Alphonsus Nwosu may appear in court over misappropriation of N3 million; Oyo Police rolls out tanks against robbers; Ondo State NLC officials arrested by Akure Police; Police arrest 88 people as economic activities are grounded across the country; Lagos High Court judge, Justice Ade Alabi, who issued the restraining order on the NLC absent from work; 4 killed in strike as police deploy 20,000 men to thwart mass protests by labour; Police manhandle, arrest 20 NLC officials in Abuja; Police brutalise journalists covering NLC protest march in Abuja; Police force protesters out of Lagos Airport; Lagos police deny killing anyone during the protest march over hike in petrol price; cases of child kidnapping for rituals on the increase in Ekiti State; Police intensify surveillance on opposition leaders to prevent them from using the NLC strike to destabilise the country; lead prosecutor in Bola Ige murder trial asks court to dismiss no-case submission by defence; Ekiti police throws more light on child’s body found in Ado-Ekiti; media rights group calls on police to investigate assault on journalists covering NLC strike; Chief Superintendent of Umuahia Prisons decries congestion in prisons; ANPP candidate, Chief Dan Imo, withdraws suit against Senate President; family of slain 23-year old man alleges plan by Benue Police to stall justice in the case; NLC president laments brutal use of firearms by police against peaceful protesters; 12 people killed in Lagos by police during protests; President Obasanjo appears before Presidential Election Tribunal to respond to petition by APGA candidate, Chief Emeka Ojukwu; Police raid Buhari’s campaign headquarters in Abuja following protest by some of his supporters to the US Embassy; Police IG dismisses 5 officers in Owerri for extortion and insubordination; Buhari and Ojukwu begin legal battle at Supreme Court to terminate President Obasanjo’s second term; President Obasanjo vows to punish policemen who killed innocent citizens during NLC strike; Ondo State Election Tribunal strikes out 2 petitions as lacking in merit; Police I.G. warns traders to desist from traveling with cash; Ekiti State Election Tribunal dismisses petition by former House of Assembly Speaker; Police kill newly wedded man in Enugu; Robbery gang arrested by Ogun State Police; Anambra Governor abducted by detachment of mobile policemen led by AIG in charge of Zone 9; Police I.G. assures people of Anambra State of adequate security; 10 illegal fuel dealers arrested by the Police in Ondo State; Federal Government’s suit against NLC adjourned; and Borno State Election Tribunal nullifies election of Alhaji Sanusi Dagash.

Jigawa Radio, Dutse • Total Items Monitored: 608 Items • Airtime devoted to items: 42,480 seconds • Total Relevant Items: 26 Items • Total Duration of Relevant Items: 1,380 seconds • Accessible Justice Items: 5 Items (200 seconds) • Human Rights Items: 13 Items (670 seconds) • Public Accountability Items: 8 Items (510 seconds) • Extent of focus on the poor: Low

Relevant items covered during the period under review include: Jigawa State Police Command orders withdrawal of all checkpoints in the state to avoid clashes; Police I.G. vows to charge any policeman involved in shooting of innocent citizens to court; 500 women in Bauchi State to benefit from Women Trafficking and Child Labour Eradication Foundation scheme to address girl child hawking in the State; Bauchi State Governor orders arrest of traditional ruler for

84 alleged selling fertilizer allocated to his community; and Police I.G. sets up team to investigate crisis in Anambra State.

Enugu State Broadcasting Service, Enugu • Total Items Monitored: 453 items • Airtime devoted to items: 44,320 seconds • Total Relevant Items: 38 Items • Total Duration of Relevant Items: 2,500 seconds • Accessible Justice Items: 9 Items (430 seconds) • Human Rights Items: 10 Items (810 seconds) • Public Accountability Items: 19 Item (1,265 seconds) • Extent of focus on the poor: Low

Relevant items covered during the period under review include: Public Utilities Commissioner calls for vigilance as State Government beefs up police security; Police declares man missing; Enugu State Government, Police restate security alert; new Commandant of Prison Training School says Nigerian prisons are now more reformative than punitive; President Obasanjo orders investigation into killings during NLC strike; Anambra State governor abducted by the Police; Federal Government says fuel price hike is irreversible, obtains court injunction against NLC strike; community leader lauds government’s appointment of more judges; NLC President says court injunction by Federal Government is abuse of judicial process; Zone 2 Police Command says it will deal decisively with law breakers during NLC strike; Senate election legal tussle adjourned at Appeal Court for want of judges; 12 persons, including former commissioner, arraigned for alleged murder; NBA warns non-members against impersonation; and NGO seeks public support against illegal detention of people.

RayPower 2, Abuja • Total Items Monitored: 768 Items • Airtime devoted to items: 81,300 seconds • Total Relevant Items: 17 Items • Total Duration of Relevant Items: 640 seconds • Accessible Justice Items: 1 Item (30 seconds) • Human Rights Items: 12 Items (520 seconds) • Public Accountability Items: 4 Items (90 seconds) • Extent of focus on the poor: Low

Relevant items covered during the period under review include: New law to ban hawking by girls in Sokoto State in the making; Police in Abuja arrest 20 NLC officials over on-going strike; NLC headquarters invaded by the Police; Police in England announce major breakthrough in investigations into gruesome murder of teenage Nigerian boy; All Peoples Liberation Party asks ICPC to investigate activities of its presidential candidate in the last elections, Chief Emmanuel Okereke; NLC president accuses police of killing 10 people and brutalizing others; NLC calls on Federal Government to investigate killing of Nigerians by the Police during strike; 61 protesters, including 6 women, arrested by police in Lagos during strike; detained Federal lawmaker, Maurice Ibekwe slumps in Kirikiri prison and goes into coma; traditional ruler in Bauchi State

85 arrested for allegedly selling fertilizer allocated to his community; and detained federal lawmaker, Maurice Ibekwe, refused bail by an Ikeja High Court.

Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria, Lagos • Total Items Monitored: 613 Items • Airtime devoted to items: 42,930 seconds • Total Relevant Items: 34 Items • Total Duration of Relevant Items: 2,480 seconds • Accessible Justice Items: 14 Items (1,240 seconds) • Human Rights Items: 9 Items (680 seconds) • Public Accountability Items: 11 Items (550 seconds) • Extent of focus on the poor: Low

Relevant items covered during the period under review include: 4 robbery suspects killed in 2 separate encounters with the police in Onitsha, 4 other suspects arrested; Child Rights Bill identified as way of stopping child trafficking, amendment suggested to give parents authority; NLC president expresses disappointment with Police handling of strike; House of Representatives unanimously condemns extra-judicial killings by police during strike, mandates relevant committees to investigate incident and report back in 2 weeks; Special panel headed by Police I.G. to investigate killings during strike has been constituted by the Federal Government; Police AIG in charge of Zone 10, Sokoto, says Federal Government has provided funds for payment of outstanding arrears and allowances owed members of the Force; Mobile policemen from Umuahia storm Government House, Awka, and arrest Anambra Governor Chris Ngige; Lagos House of Assembly says effective machinery must be put in place to investigate police killings during the NLC strike; Police I.G. assures people of Anambra State of adequate security for all citizens to go about their lawful business without molestation; Anambra governor regains freedom following abduction by the police; Lagos Police Commissioner confirms arrest of 64 people in Lagos for allegedly setting a Police Constable on anti-robbery operation ablaze; House of Representatives asks Federal Government to deploy more police officers to maintain law and order in communities along the Edo State and Kogi State border; and NLC calls on Lagos State governor to set up commission of inquiry into the killings during its nationwide strike.

Star FM Radio, Lagos • Total Items Monitored: 367 Items • Airtime devoted to items: 7,910 seconds • Total Relevant Items: 3 Items • Total Duration of Relevant Items: 120 seconds • Accessible Justice Items: 2 Items (80 seconds) • Human Rights Items: None • Public Accountability Items: 1 Item (40 seconds) • Extent of focus on the poor: None

Relevant items covered during the period under review include: Lagos State Chief Judge decries high level of corruption in the Judiciary, urges the thorough cleansing of the system; and Appeal Court orders reinstatement of former Auditor-General 3 years after removal from office.

Newspapers

During the period covered by this report, only four of the newspaper titles were available for monitoring. There were: the Daily Times (Federal Government-owned national daily), Daily Trust (privately owned national daily), The Guardian (privately owned national daily), and The New Times (privately owned weekly in Benue State). The other newspapers from the various states were not published during the period (possibly as a result of the NLC-led strike over the increase in the prices of petroleum products) and were therefore not available for monitoring. Out of a total of 125,284 square inches of space available in all the newspapers monitored, only a total of 970 square inches of space were devoted to issues relating to accessible justice, human rights and public accountability in all the newspapers monitored. A breakdown per newspaper is as follows:

• Daily Times (233 square inches) • Daily Trust (331 square inches) • The Guardian (360 square inches) • The New Times (46 square inches)

The volume of coverage given by all the newspapers to issues of accessible justice, human rights and public accountability was very low. Focus on the poor and issues relating to them was also very low.

87 Appendix 16

Media Monitoring Project of Public Perceptions on Accessible Justice

Sixth Bi-monthly Report (July 14 to 26, 2003)

Introduction

This is the sixth and final bimonthly summary issued by Media Rights Agenda under the Media Monitoring Project of Public Perceptions on Accessible Justice. This report covers the monitoring for the sixth fortnight of the exercise (Monday, July 14 to Saturday, July 26). The following summary observations are made on each of the media monitored:

Radio

Benue Radio, Makurdi • Total Items Monitored: 793 Items • Airtime devoted to items: 50,770 seconds • Total Relevant Items: 21 Items • Total Duration of Relevant Items: 840 seconds • Accessible Justice Items: 15 Items (600 seconds) • Human Rights Items: 2 Items (60 seconds) • Public Accountability Items: 4 Items (180 seconds) • Extent of focus on the poor: None

Relevant items covered during period under review include: Police I.G. warns police officers against partisan politics; Benue CJ advises judicial officers against corruption; and robbery suspect shot and killed by police in Makurdi. Other items within the subject areas were foreign news.

Voice of Ekiti, Ado-Ekiti • Total Items Monitored: 838 Items • Airtime devoted to items: 56,990 seconds • Total Relevant Items: 68 Items • Total Duration of Relevant Items: 3,170 seconds • Accessible Justice Items: 30 Items (1,160 seconds) • Human Rights Items: 2 Items (80 seconds) • Public Accountability Items: 36 Items (1,930 seconds) • Extent of focus on the poor: Low

Relevant items covered during the period under review include: FG retires Police A.I.G. who led team of mobile policemen to abduct Anambra Governor; Kaduna Governor calls for trial of those involved abduction of Anambra Governor; FG appoints new Police A.I.G. to replace retired A.I.G. in abduction saga; Edo Police to provide tight security around DPOs; Lagos Governor

88 advocates state police; Police/robbers duel leaves 4 dead; Retired Police A.I.G. says he abducted Anambra Governor to save him from an assassination plot; Ekiti Governor appeals for adequate funding of the state prison service; Lagos lawmakers urge FG to prosecute leader of team that abducted Anambra Governor; Ogun lawmakers advocate state police; Lagos High Court Judge threatens to continue trial of CSP Mohammed Rabo if his lawyer fails to appear in court; Punch newspaper wants proper and fair investigation of Anambra Governor’s abduction; Ekiti CJ releases 11 awaiting trial prisoners; policemen warned to weigh situations reasonably before swinging into action; FG cites need to protect laws of the land as principal reason for asking Ikeja High Court for the June 27 injunction against NLC; Anambra Governor petitions Police I.G. over his abduction; President Obasanjo loses bid to terminate suit by presidential candidate of MDJ; Police set to bail Anambra State out of incessant cases of robbery; Police set to intensify efforts to keep society crime free; Policemen urged to wage war against armed robbery; Human rights community vows to take up political crises in Anambra State if FG fails to treat it with seriousness; U.S. human rights group criticizes Nigeria for failing to prosecute rioters over last year’s Miss World Beauty pageant; Students/police clash in Anambra State leaves on dead; Major shake up imminent in the police following recent abduction of Anambra Governor; Panel recommends that all participants in the July 10 abduction of Anambra Governor should be prosecuted; Police headquarters in Abuja approves release of 200 vehicles for newly constituted National Crime Prevention Task Force to beef up security network in the country; FG advised to establish civil service court to tackle problem of corruption in the society; Election Tribunal nullifies election for non-compliance with Electoral Act; APGA presidential candidate loses bid to overturn President Obasanjo’s victory; FG pledge support for Industrial Court to enable it perform its duties; Comptroller General says arrangements in top gear to make prisons services responsive to constitutional roles; FG asks Abuja Federal High Court to vacate order restraining Anambra Governor from acting as governor; Ibadan High Court orders Senator Omisore to be remanded in prison custody; President Obasanjo orders judicial probe of political crisis in Anambra State; Court rules that 11 persons charged with murder of Bola Ige have case to answer; Justice Egbo-Egbo denies granting restraining order on Anambra Governor; FG orders prosecution of those behind abduction of Anambra Governor; NBA may take over prosecution of Bola Ige’s murder case; and NUJ goes to court to challenge asylum offer to Liberian President Taylor.

Jigawa Radio, Dutse • Total Items Monitored: 911 Items • Airtime devoted to items: 58,350 seconds • Total Relevant Items: 36 Items • Total Duration of Relevant Items: 1,790 seconds • Accessible Justice Items: 6 Items (250 seconds) • Human Rights Items: 20 Items (1,020 seconds) • Public Accountability Items: 10 Items (530 seconds) • Extent of focus on the poor: Low

Relevant items covered during the period under review include: NLC accuses police of killing innocent Nigerians during strike over fuel price hike, asks Lagos Governor to find the culprits; Abuja lawyers call for arrest of retired Police A.I.G. over role in Anambra crisis; Political parties condemn plan to grant President Taylor asylum; Police officer detained in Adamawa State over

89 alleged theft of 64 cows; Police I.G. warns police officers in the country not to join partisan politics; Jigawa State government sets up People’s Complaint Bureau to bridge gap between government and people of the state; Jigawa/Bauchi States Police Commands to hold joint patrols along their common border to curb robbery activities; Jigawa State government called upon the provide adequate security in Fadam LG to control robbery in the area; NDLEA in Jigawa plans to set up committee to enlighten citizens on ills of drug abuse;

Enugu State Broadcasting Service, Enugu • Total Items Monitored: 370 items • Airtime devoted to items: 34,800 seconds • Total Relevant Items: 79 Items • Total Duration of Relevant Items: 5,330 seconds • Accessible Justice Items: 40 Items (2,740 seconds) • Human Rights Items: 4 Items (290 seconds) • Public Accountability Items: 35 Items (2,300 seconds) • Extent of focus on the poor: Low

Relevant items covered during the period under review include: Enugu South/West LG chairman holds security meeting with police, others on vandalisation of public utilities; Conference of South East governors call for judicial inquiry into Anambra Governor’s abduction; Old Enugu LG holds security meeting on vigilantes; DG of Legal Aid Council deplores high number of lunatics in Nigerian prisons; President Obasanjo approves retirement of Police AIG over abduction of Anambra Governor; Abia Governor advocates treason trial for retired Police A.I.G.; new Police A.I.G. for Zone 9 resumes duty in Umuahia; Federal High Court, Abuja dismisses INEC’s motion; Election Tribunal in Enugu orders fresh election in selected wards; AD candidate says Anambra crisis amounts to treason; Aninri LG Chairman in Enugu State holds security meeting over vandalisation of public utilities; Ezeagu LG council holds security meeting; Police I.G. charges police officers to intensify war against crime; 4 witnesses testify at Enugu Election Tribunal; Election Tribunal nullifies House of Representatives election in Enugu North and South Federal Constituency; Enugu Election Tribunal orders consolidated trial of 4 petitions against Enugu Governor; Police I.G. releases 200 vehicles to newly re-established task force on crime control; Abuja High Court restrains Anambra Governor from parading himself as governor; Election Tribunal strikes out petition against Senator’s election; Anambra Governor defies Abuja High Court order, continues in office; Enugu Police declares student missing; 11 political parties sue Council of State over review of LG system; businessman calls on police to open posts in all major public utilities in the country; residents of Enugu G.R.A. call on police to remove decomposing human corpse in the area; new controller posted to Enugu Prisons; Enugu State government sets up legal aid unit in the Justice Ministry; President Obasanjo directs Justice Minister to study crisis in Anambra State; Oyo State High Court orders remand of Senator Omisore in prison custody; 11 suspected criminals paraded by police in Enugu; FG files application against Abuja High Court order on Anambra Governor; and Justice Egbo-Egbo denies issuing restraining order on Anambra Governor.

RayPower 2, Abuja • Total Items Monitored: 518 Items • Airtime devoted to items: 33,630 seconds

90 • Total Relevant Items: 42 Items • Total Duration of Relevant Items: 1,790 seconds • Accessible Justice Items: 19 Items (900 seconds) • Human Rights Items: 4 Items (140 seconds) • Public Accountability Items: 19 Items (750 seconds) • Extent of focus on the poor: Low

Relevant items covered during the period under review include: State governors set up judicial commission of inquiry into Anambra State crisis; policeman kills commercial motorcyclist in Ebonyi State; medical doctor to be investigated over student’s virginity test; General Bamaiyi accuses judge of bias; House of Reps inaugurates committee on abduction of Anambra Governor; Police Commissioner proffers solutions to security problems; another judge takes over Bola Ige murder case; Presidential Election Tribunal dismisses President Obasanjo’s objection to petition by Alhaji Dikko Yusuf; Ogun State NCP governorship candidate calls for creation of state police, condemns abduction of Anambra Governor; suspected MOSOP member arraigned for unlawful assembly; Election Tribunal nullifies results in Bayelsa State; Election Tribunal orders by-elections in Ogiro South Constituency in Enugu; Appeal Court upholds Lagos Governor’s victory; Internet fraudster nabbed by police in Enugu; Abia Governor wants abductors of Anambra Governor tried; 149 people convicted for sanitation offences in Alimosho LG of Lagos; Police I.G. says equity, justice and fair play would reign in Anambra State; Presidential Elections Tribunal dismisses APGA’s petition against President Obasanjo; Ekiti Governor dragged to court by dissolved Ekiti Civil Service Commission; Police investigates death of a young man; parents of street trading children to be prosecuted; Agege LG residents told to patronize private refuse disposal sector or face the Law; Abuja gets new police commissioner; 2 new judges appointed for Sharia Court in Jigawa State; Anambra Governor says court order on him is illegal; Police I.G. says dedicated and loyal policemen would be rewarded; President Obasanjo dragged to court by 11 political parties; residents to compensate family of dead policeman; Lagos Police Commissioner says 8 people died during protests over fuel price hike; 419 suspect, Fred Ajudua’s lawyer withdraws; 5 new judges sworn in in Rivers; Abia Governor says Justice Egbo-Egbo should be punished; and Justice Egbo-Egbo denies making order on Anambra Governor.

Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria, Lagos • Total Items Monitored: 1,029 Items • Airtime devoted to items: 76,690 seconds • Total Relevant Items: 52 Items • Total Duration of Relevant Items: 3,820 seconds • Accessible Justice Items: 22 Items (1,420 seconds) • Human Rights Items: 4 Items (480 seconds) • Public Accountability Items: 26 Items (1,920 seconds) • Extent of focus on the poor: Low

Relevant items covered during the period under review include: Cross River Police Commissioner says it has gone into partnership with village councils to curb crime in the state; DG of Legal Aid Council promises continued legal assistance to prison inmates and to ensure speedy trial of cases; Police PRO says Rivers Police is investigating alleged killing of a

91 secondary school student by his mates and that some arrests have been made; police arrest 9 persons over vandalisation of cables in Enugu; 20 persons including foreigners arrested by NDLEA for drug trafficking; Abuja High Court adjourns libel case by Bauchi Governor; Police fail to visit ANPP national secretariat 8 hours after it reported fire incident; Bayelsa police arrest 17 suspected pirates who were allegedly terrorizing travelers on the state waterways; NLC calls on FG to find those behind the killings during the strike over fuel price hike; members of the public asked to cooperate with the police in solving cyber crimes; FCT police constitutes team of detectives to investigate arson attack on ANPP national secretariat; Lagos police commissioner appeals to the public to assist the police in crime prevention; Anambra Police Commissioner says Police I.G. has dispatched special anti-crime unit to assist Anambra Police command to check rising crime rate; Police I.G. says 41 vehicles stolen in 10 states have been recovered; Police I.G. approves release of 200 vehicles to new national crime prevention taskforce to beef up security on the highways; Lagos Police Commissioner and NLC president make presentations at Senate public hearing into alleged police killings during strike; lawyers urged to reduce legal fees to ensure that the common man is not denied justice; Oyo State High Court orders Senator Omisore remanded in prison custody; 4 policemen allegedly involved in killing a teenager during nationwide strike testify before Senate public hearing; Justice Egbo-Egbo grants leave to NGO to apply for order of mandamus to compel the prosecution of the abductors of Anambra Governor; Federal Attorney General says government will embark on law reform to ensure quick dispensation of justice; CLO appeals to FG to prosecute policemen who allegedly killed 2 Nsukka High School students in 2002; Federal Attorney General says FG has filed an application to vacate restraining order on Anambra Governor; Justice Egbo-Egbo denies issuing restraining order on Anambra Governor; and Police say they will ensure arrest of DPO indicted over killing of 2 teenagers in Nsukka last year.

Star FM Radio, Lagos • Total Items Monitored: 233 Items • Airtime devoted to items: 11,580 seconds • Total Relevant Items: 7 Items • Total Duration of Relevant Items: 350 seconds • Accessible Justice Items: 3 Items (160 seconds) • Human Rights Items: 4 (190 seconds) • Public Accountability Items: None • Extent of focus on the poor: None

Relevant items covered during the period under review include: President Obasanjo signs human trafficking bill into law. The other items are issues relating to the human rights relating of children.

Newspapers

During the period covered by this report, six of the newspaper titles were available for monitoring. They were: the Daily Times (Federal Government-owned national daily), Daily Trust (privately owned national daily), The Guardian (privately owned national daily), The New Times (privately owned weekly in Benue State), The Forum (a privately owned bimonthly in Ekiti State), and Ekiti Now (a weekly from Ekiti State). The other newspapers slated for

92 monitoring were not published during the period and were therefore not available for monitoring. Out of a total of 177,992 square inches of space available in all the newspapers monitored, only a total of 2,268 square inches of space were devoted to issues relating to accessible justice, human rights and public accountability in all the newspapers monitored. A breakdown of the space devoted by each newspaper is as follows:

• Daily Times (884 square inches) • Daily Trust (477 square inches) • The Guardian (584 square inches) • The New Times (261 square inches) • The Forum (31 square inches) • Ekiti Now (31 square inches)

In percentage terms, the volume of coverage given by all the newspapers to issues of accessible justice, human rights and public accountability was relatively low in the light of the total amount of space in all the newspapers monitored. Although activities of the police as well as political developments as they affect the poor and vulnerable got much coverage, there was very little focus on the perceptions and voices of the poor and vulnerable.