LAGOS — Foremost Nigerian author, Prof. Chinua Achebe and Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka and a host of international authors have called for an end to attacks on journalists in Mexico.

The writers in a statement  signed by 170 of the world’s most acclaimed authors, including seven Nobel laureates to defend the right of journalists to be free from fear and censorship showed their strong support for the journalists.

According to them,”We, writers from around the world, stand with you and all Mexican citizens who are calling for the killing, the impunity, the intimidation to stop.

“These violations diminish us all and threaten the right of Mexican citizens to live lives both safe and free from censorship. We call on your government to apprehend and prosecute all who have silenced your colleagues and seek to silence you.”

Among those who signed the declaration for the journalists and writers of Mexico were Nobel laureates JM Coetzee, Nadine Gordimer, Toni Morrison, Orhan Pamuk, Wole Soyinka, Mario Vargas Llosa and Derek Walcott.

Other famous signatories included Chinua Achebe, Margaret Atwood, Ariel Dorfman and Salman Rushdie.

Mexico is considered one of the most dangerous countries in the world for journalists and most of the killings have been linked to organised criminal gangs, who have ostensibly targeted journalists in a bid to keep the lid on their drug-trafficking activities.