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Police urged to consider all possibilities in newspaper editor's murder

Reporters Without Borders is deeply shocked by the murder of Bayo Ohu, the assistant news editor of the Lagos-based daily The Guardian. Ohu was gunned down in front of his children at the door to his home in the north Lagos suburb of Egbeda on 20 September.

"This foul murder has brought the recurring harassment and violence against Nigeria's journalists to a head again," Reporters Without Borders said. "Exactly one year after journalist Paul Abayomi Ogundeji's still unsolved murder, it is vital that full light should be shed on this case."

The press freedom organisation added: "Given the circumstances of this killing, we urge the investigators to consider all hypotheses, including the possibility that it was linked to the victim's work as a journalist."

Ohu was at home with his children at 7 a.m. when several unidentified men knocked at his door. He was shot several times as soon as he opened. Before fleeing, the gunmen took his laptop and mobile phone. A witness said one of the assailants cried "The fool is dead" before leaving. Ohu was certified dead at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital.

The vehicle used by the gunmen when they left, a white Toyota Camry with the licence number HH 50 EKY, was found by the police, who are investigating the murder. They said they were working on the theory that the motive was robbery.

Aged 45, Ohu was married and had five children.

Topics: Freedom of speech, Freedom of information, Freedom of expression,