Journalists barred from covering court martial

Journalists covering the General Court Martial (GCM), set up by the Nigerian Army to try its erring personnel were yesterday barred from covering proceedings of the court sitting at the conference hall of the Mogadishu cantonment.

Assistant Director in Charge of the Army Headquarters Garrison (AHQG), Colonel Aliyu Yusuf, explained that journalists were being prevented from covering the proceedings on security grounds.

Journalists had converged in the hall and taking notes on the proceedings of the trial midway  into the cross-examination of the Second-in-Command of the 111 Special Forces Battalion, Capt. Isah Saleh, when they were invited outside by one of the officers who then told them that they would no longer be allowed to cover the trial of the soldiers.

Colonel Yusuf, who later left the courtroom to address the press on the development, while appealing to the media for understanding, said the testimonies that was being released by witnesses on the ongoing operations on insurgency in the North East part of the country was too sensitive and not good for publication for the interest of the national security of the country which the enemy could harp on to perpetrate their evil acts.

Yusuf, who promised to contact members of the press as soon as the trial of another set of soldiers commences, said, “Let me make an appeal that we have covered the charges for this trial yesterday; there is nothing new that they would be charged for; if there is another trial we will definitely send for you.

“As it is, the issues being discussed by the witnesses involve an on-going operation. This is not healthy; it is harmful to national security


Source: THE SUN