Brussels, April 21, (IRNA) The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has called on Nigerian authorities to put an end to media intimidation ahead of Saturday's presidential elections.

The call was made following recent raid on a television station in Abuja by intelligence service and the shut down of two other media outlets in the last 10 days.

"We condemn this attempt by the Nigerian authorities to intimidate the media," said Director of IFJ Africa office Gabriel Baglo.

"We call on the government to put an end to these blatant press freedom violations and to put back on air the closed media and return seized materials."
On April 17, officers of the Nigerian intelligence agency, the State Security Services (SSS), raided the Abuja office of the private television station 'African Independent Television' (AIT).

The officers seized the transmission tape of a documentary critical of President Olusegun Obasanjo's term which was being aired when they arrived. Other tapes were also confiscated.

On April 11, security officers raided two other private broadcasters, the radio station Link FM and the television station GTV.

The offices of both stations have been sealed since then.

No reason was given for the actions, said the IFJ in a statement.

The Brussels-based IFJ represents over 500,000 journalists in more than 100 countries.