I was shocked as I read with bated breath the hue and cry of Ikenga Chronicles Editor, Oruh Nnaemeka who let the cat out of the bag on the calls he had received for queuing behind the suffering masses on whom Buhari’s rudderless and clueless economic policies have impoverished.

Hear him: ‘’ Some minutes before my criticism of the Buhari government, I had engaged in a verbal war with a close associate of Buhari’s favoured son (the poster child of corruption) and Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi during which I was referred to as a full anti-APC writer. My feeble attempts at explaining that I am just focused on the welfare of Nigerians fell on deaf ears. But that of course does not really matter.’’

He added: “What matters was that throughout yesterday, I have been inundated with calls and messages warning/cajoling/advising me to take my feet off the gas when it comes to anti-Buhari expressions. I was directly told that for my security, I should desist as a clampdown on all social media users who ‘abuse’ the president will soon be engaged in by the Department of State Services (DSS).”

For me, the so called callers must be treading on a dangerous path for attempting to clampdown on freedom of speech in a democracy that the press fought hard to win. The attempt to take Nigeria back to the dark days of military dictatorship by Buhari’s overzealous aides and faceless supporters must be resisted by well-meaning Nigerians, civil societies and human rights activists at all cost.

Without fear of contradiction, the APC has not been fair to the media. Just within two years of Buhari’s administration, series of arrests of bloggers, newspaper reporters and even a dog owner have advocates worried about a chill on freedom of expression.

The latest assault on the freedom of the press was the clampdown and whisking away of Premium Times publisher, Dapo Olorunyomi, alongside the paper’s judiciary correspondent, Evelyn Okakwu on trumped up charges.

Last year, the army said it wanted to question a journalist who had posted a link to a video released by the Boko Haram extremist group. Also,a journalist investigating arms smuggling was assaulted in June 2015 after a meeting at a Nigerian border post.

Musa Azare, a blogger known for being critical about the government of Bauchi State, also found himself under arrest this month.

In Ogun State, the story is even worst, as the Governor has been unleashing his executive power on bloggers and who dare write anything negative about him.

It’s not just journalists that are facing threats. Police took a man in Ogun State last year August into custody for naming his dog “Buhari”.

Not only that, I also have a fair share of the threat last year when the National leader of the APC, Bola Tinubu declared me ‘’wanted’’ for publishing a story that he termed‘’ false.’’

It is worrisome that this dastardly act still happens as Nigeria’s leaders have pledged to respect the freedom of the press, with Minister of Information and Culture Lai Mohammed saying that the government of Buhari does “not intend to do anything to stifle press freedom”.

APC should know that the press has gone so far that ‘’mere threat calls’’ and indefinite detention cannot make them to abandon their responsibilities as watch dogs of the society.

Recall that during the military era many journalists were arrested, detained, tortured and jailed. Several media organizations were sealed off, closed down, proscribed or banned. Several thousand copies of newspapers and magazines were either confiscated or destroyed. Some media houses were either vandalized or torched, yet the Nigerian press survived.

It was during that dark period of the Nigerian press that Dele Giwa of Newswatch magazine was assassinated in a manner suggestive of systematic and deliberate government involvement, yet the press did not go underground.

Also, the Buhari regime that started on December 31, 1983 was obviously dictatorial. He had hardly taken the office when he declared that he would tamper with the freedom of the press. Buhari’s anger stemmed from what he termed the “raw deal” he got from the press over N2.8 billion scandal when he was Minister of Petroleum Resources, so he therefore accused the press of recklessness, hence his government came up with Decree 4. Two Guardian journalists–Tunde Thompson and Nduka Irabor– became victims of this decree which led them to jail, yet the Nigerian press survived.

If the press can survive military dictatorship for donkey years, then the present ‘’ranting ranters’’ attempting to...

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