Investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas of Tiger Eye P.I. has called on state authorities and other agencies to ensure that media personnel who continue to receive death threats are given immediate protection.
According to him, “it is a terrible thing to practice journalism under conditions such as these, and it is even dangerous when nothing is done, and the perpetrators get to carry out their threats.”
In a statement issued by Tiger Eye P.I on January 1, Anas Aremeyaw Anas described such acts as “barbaric and backward”, hence should be condemned by all persons.
Manasseh Azure Awuni, Edward Adeti, Afia Pokuaah, Captain Smart, Abdul Hayi Moomen, David Tamakloe among others must be protected by security agencies, he noted.
He opined that no journalist must go through the horrible experience meted out to Ahmed Suale, his former colleague at Tiger Eye.
“The murder of Ahmed Suale is still fresh on the minds of all journalists and sympathisers in this country. No journalist in the country can survive the bullets of their assassins if ever they become targets.”
Suale’s murderers shot him at close range in the neck and his chest several times on his way home, he added.
He stated; “This is how good contract killers are at their jobs, and therefore, they must be checked, tracked and apprehended whenever they threaten anybody with death messages.”
He, therefore, charged government, security forces, the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) and the National Media Commission (NMC) to decisively probe into the incident and ensure that the perpetrators are arrested and made to face the ordeals of the law.
“Tiger Eye P.I calls on the government to condemn these threats and careless utterances be it from a lawmaker, a government official or opposition groups in the strongest terms yet. The security agencies must proactively investigate the sources of death threats and arrest the criminals. The security agencies should not be seen or be used to perpetuate any such attacks or intimidation, the statement said.
“We appeal to the National Media Commission and Ghana Journalist Association to do more, particularly in engaging political parties and journalists who pursue public interest journalism”.
Read His full statement below:
