LAGOS - Thirteen Nigerian journalists were killed in 2012 in the course of their jobs, a top official with the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) said on Thursday.

National President for the organization Mohammed Garba disclosed this to reporters in Lagos, the country's commercial hub, saying that the figure was the highest in the history of the country since Independence in 1960.

The year 2012 was a sad one for journalists because of the number of people that were killed, the NUJ leader said.

"We have an authentic data that 13 people were killed last year and it is the highest in the history of Nigeria," he said.

The NUJ president was reacting to the announcement by the International Federation of Journalists that 121 journalists were killed worldwide in 2012.

He expressed hope that the high number of deaths would never occur again, condemning the abuse and harassment meted to journalists in the course of doing their duties.

According to him, without journalists, the people would not know how they were governed, urging security agents, politicians and the populace to respect journalists doing their legitimate duties.