POLITICAL VIOLENCE IN NIGERIA: INTERROGATING PRESS INVOLVEMENT AS VICTIM, VECTOR AND EXTINGUISHER

Abstract

Violence is among the topics of topmost global concern. Violence is multifaceted and hydra-headed in contemporary times. It has assumed some worrisome dimensions in countries and continents of the world. No country or continent is free from violence and no country or continent has a monopoly of violence. Political violence is a variant of violence that relates to politics. Many factors are responsible for the increasing political violence in the world, particularly in Nigeria. The press as the fourth estate of the realm has been entangled in politics and political violence in Nigeria. The Nigerian press has, from the colonial era till date, featured prominently as victim, vector and extinguisher of political violence in the country. This article is an attempt to examine how the press has played these tripartite roles in the endemic political violence in Nigeria. Politics, violence, press, victim & Nigeria