''P.M. News'' is a daily newspaper published in

Lagos Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the List of cities in Africa by population, second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national ca ...

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

, by the Independent Communications Network Limited (ICNL). The company also publishes the weekly ''TheNEWS'' magazine and ''Tempo'', a tabloid. ''The News'' was founded in 1993 by

Bayo Onanuga Bayo Onanuga (born 20 June 1957) is a Nigerian journalist. He co-founded ''TheNews Magazine'' and was appointed managing director of the News Agency of Nigeria by President Muhammadu Buhari in May 2016. Preceding that, he was the CEO and editor-i ...

Babafemi Ojudu Babafemi Ojudu (born 27 March 1961) is a Nigerian journalist who was elected Senator for the Ekiti Central constituency of Ekiti State, Nigeria, in the April 2011 national elections. He ran on the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) platform. Early ...

and other former staff from the ''African Concord'' who had resigned in protest over a request by M. K. O. Abiola, the publisher, to apologise to President

Ibrahim Babangida Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (born 17 August, 1941) is a retired Nigerian Army general and politician. He served as military president of Nigeria from 1985 until his resignation in 1993. He rose through the ranks to serve from 1984 to 1985 as Ch ...

over a critical story about the military regime. Ojudu was the first Managing Editor. After harassment by the Babangida regime, there was a brief period of press freedom under General

Sani Abacha Sani Abacha (20 September 1943 – 8 June 1998) was a Nigerian military officer and politician who ruled as the military head of state of Nigeria from 1993 until his death in 1998. He seized power on 17 November 1993 in the last successful c ...

during which ''P.M. News'' was launched in August 1994 as a breezy afternoon paper strongly oriented towards news but also covering fashions, sports and entertainment. In the years that followed, ''P.M. News'' and '' TheNews'' were known for "guerrilla journalism". They were subject to constant interference by the authorities, arrests and closures. For example, in August 1996

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...

reported that Editor-in-chief Bayo Onanuga was thought to be held by the State Security Service at their Lagos headquarters, and may have been ill-treated in custody. Babafemi Ojudu had been released on 13 August 1996 and had required hospital treatment as a result of ill-treatment. The two men may have been arrested due to publishing articles critical to the government. Onanuga fled from Nigeria in 1997 after hiding from state security forces for months. He returned home to resume work at ICNL in 1998, after the sudden death of Abacha and the start of the transition to democracy.

References

1994 establishments in Nigeria Companies based in Lagos Daily newspapers published in Nigeria Newspapers published in Lagos Publications established in 1994 {{Nigeria-newspaper-stub