THE 2007 report on press freedom around the world was released on Wednesday with Nigeria ranking 131 out of 169 countries that were surveyed.
Reporters Without Border, an organisation that defends press freedom, listed Eritrea as the worst country for press freedom with the country gaining the dubious distinction after four reporters were said to have died in prison.
Iceland was first on the list, while Britain and United States were ranked 24th and 48th respectively and it was observed that there were slightly fewer press freedom violations in the United States.
Eritrea�s government has, however, rejected the report, as its Information Minister, Ali Abdu, told VOA News that both local and international reporters were allowed to work freely in the country.
�It�s rubbish, it�s ridiculous, and I wouldn�t like to respond to that ridiculous statement. There are a number of journalists coming here from everywhere in the world and asking whatever they want to ask. You are the victim of misinformation,� he said.
The organisation, which published its report for the sixth consecutive year on Wednesday, said �there is nothing surprising about this. Even if we are not aware of all the press freedom violations in North Korea and Turkmenistan, which are second and third from last, Eritrea deserves to be at the bottom.
�The privately-owned press has been banished by the authoritarian President Issaias Afeworki and the few journalists who dare to criticise the regime are thrown in prison. We know that four of them have died in detention and we have every reason to fear that others will suffer the same fate.�