Caution security forces, Soyinka tells Buhari

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Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to caution security operatives in the country against human rights abuse.

Soyinka said this on Wednesday during the 10th anniversary of the Wole Soyinka Award for Investigative Reporting held in Lagos.

This was contained in a statement issued by the coordinator of the WSCIJ, Motunrayo Alaka, on Thursday.

The statement read, “Soyinka’s lament came on the heels of recurring cases and pictorial evidences of regular unleashing of terror on mostly unarmed and helpless Nigerians by the men in uniform whose constitutional role is to protect the people.

“The Nobel Laureate emphasised that having come out of a difficult 29 years of military rule, Nigerians must be allowed to enjoy the freedom that democracy promises. He also raised other concerns including issues of contempt of court and unauthorised detention.”

At the award ceremony, two honorary prizes, the Lifetime Award for Journalistic Excellence and the anti-corruption defender award were presented respectively to veteran broadcaster, Bimbo Oloyede and the immediate past Chairman of the Independent Electoral Commission, Prof. Attahiru Jega.

Twelve journalists were celebrated for their outstanding work.

Adekunle Yusuf of The Nation was the winner of the print category with his piece titled, ‘Inside the Oil Deals That Cost Nigeria Billions’.

With her work titled, ‘Ovum Trading: Inside Nigeria’s Multi-Million Naira Human Egg Business,’ Motunrayo Joel of SUNDAY PUNCH was the runner-up in the print category.

Odutayo Odusanya of The Punch was runner-up in the Photo category with his work titled, ‘Double Jeopardy,’ a picture of students whose classroom was in an open space sandwiched between stenches from a refuse dump and an abandoned cemetery.

Source: Punch