This study examines the extent to which the Nigerian journalists comply with ethical values in the course of their reportage. Two national dailies – The Nation and Daily Trust newspapers were selected for content analysis, using systematic random sampling technique to pick 26 editions per newspaper. A period of six months from 14 December 2014 to 14 June, 2015, covering the 4th phase of the state of emergency was chosen. Tables, figures, and sample percentage counts were employed in making the research data easily understandable. The findings revealed that though the newspapers appeared to be ethically compliant in their reportage, none of the two newspapers was neutral in its reportage of the state of emergency rule. Majority of their stories were considered unpleasant and capable of aggravating the crisis in the troubled states. The hypothesis were tested, one showed that there is a significant difference between the number of news stories and the number of ethical breaches in the selected newspapers; hypothesis two showed a significant difference between ethically breaching and ethically standard reports/content of the selected newspapers; hypothesis three showed a significant difference between the ethical breaching of Daily Trust and those of The Nation –X2 = 0.09; P<0.05, df1. The study therefore, recommends that journalists should always have a healthy regard for the public interest, desist from slavish adulation and join hands with the government in bringing about lasting peace to the troubled states and desist from publishing inflammatory stories.