RIPPLES NIGERIA
The Ethiopian authorities have expelled 15 media outfits including the BBC and the Voice of America’s (VOA) from its Somali region for operating without the necessary permits.
The authorities took the decision to expel the media organisations following a letter of complaints written by the Ethiopian Media Authority (EMA) to the regional officials, alleging that the international media organisation representatives based in the region are working without the required accreditations.
But the head of the region’s journalists’ association, Abdulrazak Hassan, rejected the claim by the authorities and told a local media outlet on Tuesday that the real reasons for the expulsion were reports by the journalists exposing corruption and impacts of severe drought in Ethiopia’s easternmost region.
