U.S. Journalist Arrested in Nigeria

Hey guys, its Jessica Roach and I have officially entered the blogging world. Since we are going to be learning all about the great continent of Africa, I wanted to do something that was happening there for my first blog. I was cruising through the New York Times when I came across a story, 4 minutes fresh, with the intruiging title...U.S. Journalist Arrested in Nigeria. Who could pass that up? Before I post it for you all to read, I'm gonna give you a heads up on what I think about what's going on here. So, we've established that there has been an arrest. What I was unaware of is the amount of arrests that have been happening in this particular area in the past few years. The Delta Region of Nigeria is taking no chances on what they presume to be spies. It has been hard for journalists, in this case Andrew Berends working on a documentary, to be able to completely do their work without there being interference. What baffles me is the idea that someone is getting arrested for suspicision. Here we just deal with innocent until proven guilty. It is my understanding that their press is one of the freest in Africa. It is just hard for me to wrap my head around the arrest. Let me know you're thoughts. Here is the article, enjoy:

U.S. Journalist Arrested in Nigeria
New York Times
by Will Connors
Published Sept 2nd, 2008
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/03/world/africa/03nigeria.html?_r=1&ref=world&oref=slogin

LAGOS, Nigeria — An American documentary filmmaker and his interpreter working in the volatile Delta region of Nigeria have been arrested and accused of spying, according to Nigerian government officials and media watchdog groups.

Andrew Berends, a New York-based freelance filmmaker and journalist who was working on a film about the oil-producing Delta region, was arrested on Sunday and held overnight. “They didn’t let me sleep or eat or drink water for the first 36 hours,” he said Tuesday night.

Mr. Berends’s passport and equipment were confiscated. On Monday he was released but ordered to report back to the State Security Service the next morning. On Tuesday he was again taken into custody, released and told to return the next morning. His interpreter, Samuel George, remained in custody.

A military spokesman, Lt. Col. Sagir Musa, confirmed that Mr. Berends had been arrested and handed over to the security service.

“He had no security clearance,” Colonel Musa said. “It is for his own safety. If something happens to him, it’s an embarrassment to the security agencies. It’s not normal times in the area right now. The S.S.S. will investigate him, and once they are satisfied they will release him, God willing.”

Mr. Berends contacted two advocacy groups, Reporters Without Borders and the Committee to Protect Journalists, and both groups condemned his detention.

Reporters Without Borders issued a statement that said: “Berends was arrested just for doing his job and no other reason. It is absurd for the authorities to think that by arresting him and his interpreter, they can conceal the economic and ecological disaster unfolding in the Niger Delta.”

Despite its oil riches, the Niger Delta is a desperately poor and increasingly lawless part of the country, where wealth is siphoned away by corrupt officials. Militants demand a greater share of the area’s oil resources and claim to be fighting on behalf of the impoverished residents, but also appear to be engaging in many criminal and opportunistic acts of violence. Hundreds of foreign workers and wealthy Nigerians have been kidnapped for ransom, and oil theft is rampant.

Several other foreign journalists and filmmakers have been detained while working in the region in recent years. In April, four members of a Seattle-based film crew were arrested in the Delta and held for six days on spying charges.

Commenting on the arrest of Mr. Berends, Chris Alagoa of the Niger Delta Peace and Security Secretariat, a community organization, said: “The government probably knows the fellow’s real mission and that it has nothing to do with espionage, but they want to do it to discourage others from coming to report on the situation on the ground. Hounding journalists and filmmakers who want to inform the public is in bad taste.”

While Nigeria has a significantly freer press than most African nations, gathering information in the Niger Delta is particularly difficult.

“We have one of the freest presses in Africa, but there are rules,” said Nwuke Ogbonna, information commissioner for Rivers State, which includes part of the Delta. As for Mr. Berends, he said: “He may have engaged in actions that are not in the national interests of this country. Whether that means spying or entering off-limits areas, I can’t say. It’s for the security agents to determine whether this means he was spying.”

Mr. Berends had visited Nigeria on several occasions and had been in the country since April on this trip. He often ventured into the creeks of the Delta to film in villages affected by oil drilling. Two weeks ago, Mr. Berends said he had nearly finished his work and was planning to return to New York this month. Mr. Berends directed the 2006 documentary “The Blood of My Brother,” about Iraq.