The Amnesty International has organized Training for Journalists in the South West on Human Rights Reporting.
The 2- day Training in collaboration with the Nigerian Union of Journalist came up between Thursday 24th – Friday 25th, July.
The program tagged South West Human rights training came up at BON Hotel NEST Bodija, Ibadan, Oyo State.
The theme was : Human Rights Centered Journalism . The title focused on critical areas of Human Rights and security.
The program had notable media personalities as resource persons
Beneficta Ofili of Amnesty International at the event stated that the training became necessary because of the role of journalists on information dissemination and to improve the process by Amnesty on Human rights.
Ofili stated that Amnesty International is
Present in over 350 countries in the world with focus on Human rights to let people know and understand Human rights and ensure its enjoyed by all.
“We take time to talk to schools- secondary schools, institutions, professional groups, we talk about our program and intervention.
” In schools we talk about debate. To community we tell them about campaign, that human rights is not a privilege. Its what everybody must know to be able to enjoy it.
“We speak to community and witnesses. Nobody is left out. We give notices for balanced reports before publication. We don’t fight nobody.
“Govt must ensure people’s rights are managed properly. There is no justice in jungle. Our movement is clear. You can’t take law into your hands”
Ofili further stated that “The populace understand they can’t take law into their hands. We want to get more people into understanding human rights.
“To change the dynamic, journalists must be trained on Human rights for proper information dissemination
“Human rights must be discussed at all levels not only at elitist level. So that at the end of the process you would all have been improved for better perspectives.
” Those terrorists come around to tell the women victims sex for Food. It’s not just only for women and girls. It has gone beyond that, everybody must embrace human rights. You must know your rights.”
She lamented that,”in some homes we have Bibles, Quran but no Nigeria constitution, so how do we hold duty bearers accountable? ”
A media personality,Mustapha Muhammed decried the alarming rate of how insurgency has dehumanized people especially in the North ,as various atrocities perpetrated by Boko Haram terrorists were under reported or not even reported.
“Women were turned into sex slaves,
And even when journalists report them at times. Government goes after them. We went to some villages, the villages were burnt down by bandits.
” A villager warned us not to spend five minutes in the village because of the footmark of banditry
” In the North there are wide expanse of land, we don’t need to have ranches in the South if they don’t want it”
Micheal Christian from the organization emphasized that the Amnesty International prioritized respect and dignity,
Also Anne Chukwunwike highlighted that Amnesty has existed global since over 60 decades and in Nigeria in 2015.
” We organized our 1st Annual General Meeting 2025. We look forward to make organization accountabile over infringement on people’s rights.
“Before any publication we inform the government for possible reply, we turned our research to campaign and advocacy. We work with strategic people on necessary mobilization. to achieve our mission
“Over the years we supported organizations that led to the rescue of women and girls victims of abduction. We have worked on case that is about abuse on women in 2018.we prioritize society with education on Human rights.
“Due to partnership with ecowas we have made success on rights of expression. We are based in Abuja. When we can’t get to a place. We have trained people who go to necessary places for us..
“We want journalists to be trained in order to help us spread the good words in the interest of the society and the people on Human rights”
A veteran journalist and Director, Centre for Media Law and Advocacy, Richard Akinola stated that the Media is the only profession given the responsibility in the Constitution of holding government accountable
“Although the law is involved. Unfortunately the judiciary we have before independence seems to be more independent than during democracy
” If you want to use journalism for social relevance, you must be ready to suffer the consequences.
“Under democracy, things are so fluid because of political interest, everybody wants to defend political parties. Even in the media there is political interest. But in the media what is right is right, what is wrong is wrong
” As a journalist you must fact and double check any story, otherwise you will be embarrassed especially on Human rights matter
“For you to investigate Human rights story you must equip yourself with necessary vital gadgets to be able to present your evidence on publication
” There is a way you can humanize Human rights story without offending anyone or anybody and the story will still be told. You can do a follow up of a big story and turn it to a bigger and major story
“So many things happen several years ago and still relevant, you tie them to current realities”
On Cyber security law, he said: “We need to draw attention to this these are some of the issues. What is Cyber bullying!
” If you are investigating, respect confidentiality because some issues are disclosed without record, don’t disclose your information”
He added that fundamental issues need to be addressed when security agencies are compromising
Dr Kabiru Danladi from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria who spoke on ethics in practice, upholding integrity in reporting stated that the objective of the training was to understand journalism’s ethical foundations in Nigeria and to examine systemic ethical challenges in practice and strengthen moral clarity in human rights reporting amongs others
He however identified disinformation,digital noise ,weaponized media.political interference and economic pressures as critical.
He described ethical journalism as made up of Fairness, accountability and public trust.
“The focus of human rights reporting is freedom of speech, torture, justice and dignity. It requires verification, responsible storytelling and risk sensitivity
” Good journalism enlightens, defends rights, set moral compass while Bad journalism misleads, misinforms, manipulates. ”
Dr. Arthur- Martins Aginam a Communication expert centered his lecture on: Journalists as a Human rights advocate.
He described an advocate as someone who publicly supports or recommend a particular cause or policy,saying ,”when it comes to issues of Human rights, a journalist should not sit at the fence”.
He advocated freedom of the press as a means of achieving a free society,added. “Journalists must be conscious of changes in dynamic”
An award winning investigative journalist,Fisayo Soyombo in his presentation harped on how to develop the Knack for investigative stories.
According to him,,investigating reporting should be about public interest.
“At the heart of it is human rights. When investigative is properly done, it takes care of human rights. Even though investigation, may begin from a leak, but not Leak Journalism.
” Investigative reporting can strengthen democracy and give a voice to the downtrodden
“An investigative journalist must be Hardworking, stoic, patient, single minded, Dogged, watchful, relentless, selfless, Passionate and private
” The best techniques are: eyes, memory, words used graphically, hidden camera and Technology/ internet”
Soyombo analysed how to identify a big human rights story as :
“That seemingly harmless press release is a story. Every press release, if we scrutinize them, we can find story, clear denial of media access, a subtle lead from your story, complaint from the public, complaint from a victim, everyday experiences, from your own experience, your investment bank, when the opportunity to fight injustice arises, when you want to prevent injustice, social media calling out, Tip-offs from sources”
“Part of the investigative work is that you can get solution to problem without being in government.
He highlighted the technique of getting a story to include:
” Research day and night, turn the story over and also write a pitch as guide on what to achieve others were to conduct risk analysis and hit the field
Soyombo stated that investigative journalism gives journalist life perspective that people would not see.
A Gender Justice Advocate Dr Princess Olufemi- Kayode presented on the topic: Journalism with a gender lens: Protecting Rights, Shaping Narratives.
She narrated how journalists can achieve a balanced reports andthe need to apply practical tools for better reporting.
“A gender lens is a way of looking at the world that recognises how gender shapes the lives of individuals. This includes how power, roles, opportunities and challenges differ. A. Framework for identifying gender inequalities, stereotypes and imbalances.
It challenges the invisibility of women’s and marginalized voice
“Journalism with gender lens means producing stories that reflects gender realities and ensuring fairness, balance and equity in how issues are reported, whose voices are included, and how people are portrayed.
” Avoiding harmful stereotype and one-sided narratives It is not reporting Women issues only. Assuming neutrality means fairness.
Gender lens journalism helps us to ask better question for accurate reporting. Gender lens is about human rights and not feminisim. Gender norms shape public perception and policy. Media can reinforce or dismantle stereotypes.
Participants journalists from Print, electronics and New media drawn within the South West, Ekiti, Ondo, Oyo and Osun states were given certificates by the Amnesty after the event.