BY MICHAEL EBOH
LAGOS — The International Press Institute, IPI, has condemned the hacking scandal that led to the closure of the News of the World by its publishers.

The IPI, in a communique issued yesterday, after the meeting of IPI Nigeria National Committee, hosted by Thisday newspapers, said the hacking scandal came about because of the failure of law enforcement and not a failure of journalism and press freedom.

From left: Mr. Sam Amuka, former Chairman, International Press Institute, IPI, Nigerian Chapter; Naomi Hunt, Press Freedom Adviser, Africa and the Middle-East; Alhaji Isah Ismaila, former President, Newspapers Proprietors Association of Nigeria, NPAN; Alison Mckenzie, Director IPI; Mr. Nduka Obaigbena, President, NPAN; and Mr. Raheem Adedoyin, Secretary, IPI, during IPI's working meeting with media stakeholders in Nigeria, held in Lagos, yesterday. Photo: Lamidi Bamidele.

The four-paragraph communiqué, jointly signed by Alison Mckenzie, Director, IPI and Mr. Nduka Obaigbena, President, Newspapers’ Proprietors Association of Nigeria, NPAN, read: “We strongly condemn illegality in the British media, especially the hacking scandal that has led to the closure of News of the World by its publishers.

“We recognise this as a failure of law enforcement and not a failure of journalism and press freedom.

“While we endorse British government reaction by way of the setting up of two enquiries to look into the affair, we caution that this quest for revenge should not be a basis to undermine the robust history of press freedom in the UK in particular which could cause a ripple effect globally.

“It would be a tragedy if governments elsewhere now use events in Britain to justify the repression of the media in their own countries.”