By; BAYO AKAMO, Ibadan
The International Press Council Centre for Safety and Protection of Journalists (I-CSPJ) on Saturday, alerted of an alleged threat on the life of investigative journalist, Karen James.
I-CSPJ raised the alarm in a statement by its Coordinator, Melody Akinjiyan made available to journalists in Ibadan, tagged, “I-CSPJ decries Threats on Journalist Karen James life”.
In the statement, I-CSPJ stressed that information reaching it, “states that Karen James has been the target of several assassination attempts, as unscrupulous individuals, reportedly sent after her, seek to silence her”.
It maintained further, ” Fearing for her life, the journalist is now in hiding”, adding, ” I-CSPJ is deeply worried about the situation of Journalist Karen James and hereby calls on the Nigerian government and the security agencies to ensure that she is not harmed in any way”.
I-CSPJ noted, ” in a petition Karen James wrote on Thursday, August 10, 2023 to the Honourable Speaker, Anambra State House of Assembly, she stated that, “her trouble began after she exposed an alleged scandal in the Anambra Ministry of Education.”
According to the petition, “Karen James had been conducting a month-long investigation into the inner workings of the Anambra State education system, where she uncovered alleged massive corruption, incompetence and outright disregard of public yearnings for truth into the Blessed Wisdom Model School saga in Onitsha that abruptly ended their 3rd term promotion examination and inadvertently displacing over 600 school children from schooling, hence, casting them unto the streets of Onitsha”.
I-CSPJ however, enjoined, “anyone who may be aggrieved over the reports by the journalist to seek redress through legal channels instead of attempting to resort to extra-judicial self-help”
It also tasked other national, regional and international media freedom groups, freedom of expression organisations and human rights bodies to join in the clamour for her safety, saying, ” I-CSPJ is concerned that incidents like this would continue to make Nigeria to rate poorly in the global press freedom index”.
