Ibe Pascal Arogorn, Owerri
The Nigerian union of journalists, Imo state chapter has berated the commissioner for information, Declan Emelumba for disowning a Punch reporter, Chidiebube Okeoma.
This was contained in a statement by the union’s chairman, Commrade Precious Nwadike.
He said, “The latest release by the Imo State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Declan Emelumba which was as usual signed by Mr. Chris Akaraonye, a retired photographer and an active pensioner in the same Ministry of Information, is nothing new in the chain of events designed by the Imo State Government to hijack and dominate the NUJ in Imo state.
“The fact that it was also published in some newspapers said to be on the payroll of Emelumba is also not news, as the state government continues to dig-in and take advantage of the impoverishment of the people of the state. Poverty, as always, is a potent weapon wielded by the rich against the inherently poor populace.
“It would have been assumed that the Information Commissioner had by his press release and utterances confirmed to Imo people that having left the practise for so long before his appointment as Commissioner, he now knows little or nothing about the roll call of active journalism practitioners in Imo, hence his reason for describing the Punch Reporter, Chidiebube Okeoma, as a non-journalist.
Speaking, “we know it goes beyond that; Emelumba represents the Imo State Government’s bid to control the media and news contents emanating from Imo state in the hope that it could subtly arm-twist practitioners into reporting Imo state only on their terms.
“But unfortunately, Emelumba and his sponsors chose to execute their sinister mandate with a crowd peopled mainly by non-practitioners and spearheaded by the weak-link impostor, Mr. Chris Akaraonye who has further degenerated into a rubber stamp for Emelumba’s many mendacities.
“The Union read with utmost dismay the sponsored publication in some local newspapers – Announcer, Lead Express and Newsbreak newspapers – in which they averred that the Punch Newspaper Reporter who was manhandled by security personnel at the Imo Government House is not a registered journalist.
“This, no doubt, is in a bid to justify the criminal assault unleashed on an innocent journalist by policemen and hoodlums from the Imo State Government House.
“Chidiebube Okeoma’s only sin was that he covered a protest organized by street sweepers, mainly widows who are being owed their sweeping stipend for upwards of six months. .
“We do not intend to educate Emelumba on the rights of citizens but let it be known to him that it is the right of every citizen to protest. It is also the right of Imo citizens to observe such protest if they so wish, and the right of any practising journalist as Comrade Chidiebube Okeoma, to cover and report the protest.
“If the news platforms that published your tissues of lies had even the slightest modicum of conscience or the least knowledge of their mandate as journalists, they would have known that their responsibility is not just to the Government alone but to the public especially the oppressed members of the public.
“The least they could have done is to join Chidiebube Okeoma and other practicing journalists to report the abuse and dehumanization meted out on the poor widows sweeping the streets of Owerri.
“They can choose to publish whatever they like for gratification or convenience while others publish for humanity and posterity, one thing is sure, a day of reckoning awaits us all.
“As a professional body therefore, we sympathize with Emelumba while warning that he should stop impersonating the Union by hiding under a non-existent Imo NUJ faction to discredit core practitioners in the state.
“We are also not unaware that Emelumba may be making a ‘huge kill for himself’ while pretending to be leading the charge for government against practicing journalists in Imo state, “Nwadike said.
