ABUJA (Sundiata Post) – The Human Rights Writers Association (HURIWA) and the Assertive Justice Initiative (AJI), have raised concern over the media coverage of the on-going investigations by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), of financial transactions involving Fidelity Bank and some other commercial banks in the country relating to the alleged $115 million lodged by former Petroleum minister, Mrs. Diezani Allison-Madueke, for the purposes of the 2015 general election.
HURIWA and AJI, in separate interviews with the media in Abuja on Tuesday, deplored the manner in which a section of the media in Nigeria has handled the reporting of the case involving the management of Fidelity Bank and especially its Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Mr. Nnamdi Okonkwo.
The human rights groups appealed to the media to desist from prosecuting accused persons on the pages of newspaper, as according to them, such unethical report is tantamount to tarnishing the reputation of the individuals even before they are brought to court.
The EFCC is currently investigating the alleged deposit by Mrs. Allison-Madueke and had earlier arrested the chief executive officers of the banks who were later released on bail.
However, the National Coordinator of HURIWA, Mr. Emmanuel Onwubiko, while speaking on the one year anniversary of Buhari administration with focus on the fight against corruption, said there was need for the government to prosecute those who have looted the nation’s treasury as well as to recover whatever has been stolen.
Onwubiko insisted, however, that the rights of accused persons to fair hearing and presumption of innocence should be respected by both the EFCC and the media.
This, he said, is to avoid a situation where innocent persons are portrayed in bad light before the public, even before they are put on trial.
He said: “If the EFCC has information about somebody, the Commission should be concerned with how to professionally conduct thorough investigations and take their findings to appropriate court to adjudicate on the matter.
‘’It is wrong for officers of the EFCC, or for a reporter, hiding under condition of anonymity to take the matter to the media for publication before the person is taken to court. This is called media trial. Media trial is illegal and immoral because it has the potency of demonising the accused in the court of public opinion.”
Also speaking, the executive director of AJI, Mr. Max Ozoaka, said the EFCC has become bolder in its activities which he attributed to determination of president to fight corruption head on.
Ozoaka, however, noted that disclosure of information from investigations by some detectives of the Commission to the media has been one of the reasons why most cases are prosecuted in a shoddy manner without convictions.
“If in the course of this interview, I say anything to you and ask you not to quote me, then you should be suspicious of me and the information I have given you. Journalists, in the course carrying out their legitimate duties, should not assume the position and duties of judges and the courts.
“Therefore, reporters should allow detectives to do their jobs and then go to the open court where these cases are tried to follow up the trials and report to the public. Prosecution of cases is not about media hype or media sensation. It is about facts presented to court by the prosecutor,” Ozoaka concluded.
