Ayodele Oluwafemi is a journalist covering the criminal justice system in Nigeria for TheCable through Report for the World. Don’t miss his Instagram #TakeoverTuesday as part of our October Corps Member Spotlight.
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The interview has been edited for length and clarity.
When you began considering career options, what did you find compelling about a career in journalism?
I love to inform and educate others. Journalism offers me the opportunity to inform and educate about happenings in their immediate society.
How did you become interested in criminal justice as a beat?
Having covered general issues in Nigeria, I was exposed to some of the injustices inherent in our criminal justice system, which include police brutality, prison congestion, delay of justice and victims left uncompensated, among other things. When Report for the World started, I saw the opportunity to concentrate on covering these issues.
The primary objective of TheCable’s crime and justice desk is described as “bringing the entire system, including the judiciary, under the necessary scrutiny.” Why does Nigeria’s judiciary and law enforcement systems require more scrutiny?
When we talk about the Nigerian criminal justice system, we are looking at the various stakeholders in that system, which include the judiciary, law enforcement agencies and prison officials.
These stakeholders are central to the system’s problems. For instance, the police are typically the first point of contact in criminal justice and they are well known for collecting bribes from citizens, illegally detaining innocent citizens beyond the constitutional detention limit and involving themselves in extrajudicial killings of innocent citizens.
The judiciary, which is supposed to be the hope of the common man, is also bedeviled by certain problems such as inadequate and poor court facilities, disobedience of court order and backlogged court cases. Hence, we have to be critical of the activities of such stakeholders.
What are some of the challenges of reporting on criminal justice in Nigeria?
One of the challenges of reporting on my beat is the technicality of the legal terms. As a journalist who is not also a lawyer, I must take my time to understand the legal provisions well so that I do not misinform readers.
Another challenge is that there is hardly good news in this beat. It is a cycle of terrible crime stories and sad tales of police brutality and killings. This sometimes affects one’s mental health.
What methods of coping with and unwinding from these mental health challenges have you found?
First, I sometimes isolate myself from the news cycle by limiting my exposure to social media and news websites. Second, I have conditioned myself to always read positive stories and leave out the negative stories, especially those that involve tragic occurrences.
Editor’s Note: Here are some mental health resources for journalists from GroundTruth:
- Creating ‘sustainable journalists’: Six steps you can take to prevent burnout
- Confronting the emotional toll of covering COVID-19
One of the indices of development is justice. Show me a nation where there is justice, I will show you a developed nation. I’m serving my society by ensuring that people get justice, especially those who are not highly placed in the society. In fact, justice is part of the goal 16 of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which is peace, justice and strong institutions. Ensuring that people get justice is how I serve my society.
Following the murder of George Floyd by a police officer in the U.S., many American news outlets covered the global impact of Floyd’s death and Black Lives Matter protests in other countries across the globe, including Nigeria. This particular article, as an example, claims that Floyd’s death led to campaigns against police brutality in Nigeria, although campaigns such as End SARS have been going on for much longer.
In Nigeria, how significant was this American story to Nigeria’s own movements against police violence? Are comparisons between the two movements by non-Nigerian news media justified?
Yes. It is justifiable to compare the protests sparked by Floyd’s murder and Nigeria’s #EndSARS protests, because there is a common theme of police brutality. However, the dimensions of police brutality in the two countries are different. In the U.S, instances of police brutality usually have racial connotations, for instance. From Floyd to Jacob Blake, we can see that radically distinct angle. In Nigeria, police brutality does not have racial or ethnic connotations, but the majority of those who suffer police brutality are young people.
From the murder of George Floyd by police officers in the U.S to the attendant #BlackLivesMatter protests in many parts of the world, I think the incident brings to the forefront the issue of police brutality, globally.
What stories in Nigeria would you like to see more attention called to by the international press?
I want the international press to report the positive things that are happening in the country and the giant strides of Nigerians. Everything shouldn’t be negative stories about Nigeria and Africa. We are also doing well in some areas.
I’ve read many of your “Know Your Rights” explainers – which inform readers about everything from the right to decline to give police a statement to the illegality of being detained for more than 48 hours without a court order. Why are these explainer stories important to your audience? And, in your experience, how familiar are Nigerians with their rights under the law?
I think many Nigerians do not know their rights under the law. Hence, the police tend to abuse this lacuna.
The purpose of the Know Your Rights (KYR) explainers is to expose the audience to their rights as enshrined in the Nigerian constitution and other legal provisions. I believe that exposing readers to these rights will enable them to challenge law enforcement agents with this knowledge. I have observed that when law enforcement agents know that you are aware of your rights as enshrined in the constitution, they are more likely to treat you fairly in most cases. When you know your rights, you will definitely know when they are being trampled upon.
What have you found to be the most impactful story you have written so far as a Report for the World corps member? Why was it impactful?
I will say my most impactful reporting thus far has examined how a piece of legislation frustrates victims of police brutality. Many have experienced delays in getting their monetary compensation for abuses by law enforcement, making them lose hope in the country’s justice system.
The report was able to show that the legislation must be expunged from the country’s legal system, in order to ensure that victims of police brutality, who are awarded compensation by the courts, get the monetary compensation promptly and confidence in the justice system is restored.
How are you tangibly serving Nigerian society and or making it a better place?
One of the indices of development is justice. Show me a nation where there is justice, I will show you a developed nation. I’m serving my society by ensuring that people get justice, especially those who are not highly placed in the society. In fact, justice is part of the goal 16 of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which is peace, justice and strong institutions. Ensuring that people get justice is how I serve my society.