Imo Govt: No One Beat Punch Correspondent, He Is an Opposition Agent
- Imo state government denied reports that a correspondent of Punch newspaper, Chidiebube Okeoma, was brutalised
- According to the government, the reporter is an opposition agent who has another agenda in the statehouse
- Going further, the Imo government claimed it never apologised or offered to give the reporter any money to treat himself
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The report that a journalist was brutalised by security operatives from Imo state governor's office during a protest by some women has been denied.
According to the Imo state government, the Punch newspaper correspondent Chidiebube Okeoma, was only questioned by the police for failure to properly identify himself.
Source: Facebook
In a statement made available to Legit.ng, the state commissioner for information and strategy Hon Declan Emelumba said the reporter could not identify himself after he was caught filming restricted areas of the government house.
Going further, the commissioner described Okeoma as an agent of the opposition who was in the government house for a sinister agenda and not for the practice of journalism.
He also clarified that he never apologised to Okeoma for being interrogated by policemen, rather for claiming that he was beaten.
Emelumba said it was curious that of all the journalists who covered the protesters, none was molested except the Punch correspondent.
According to him, it was bewildering that someone who claims to be a journalist could neither produce his ID card nor comport himself in a dignified manner.
He said:
"The truth is that he belongs to a breakaway faction of NUJ that is working for the opposition. He contrived and orchestrated the entire saga to taint the image of government. Nobody actually molested him."
Support for southeast leaders
Legit.ng had reported that leaders of thought in both northern and southern Nigeria on Sunday, June 20 supported the position of southeast governors and other leaders in Igbo land insisting on a united country and distancing the region from secessionist calls by the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB).
Declaring support for the southeast leaders stance, the apex northern sociocultural group, Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), and its counterpart in the south-south zone, the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) said Nigeria is better off united.
Deal ruthlessly with criminals
Meanwhile, security operatives in Imo state have been directed to deal ruthlessly with criminal elements disturbing the peace in rural communities.
The directive was given by the state commissioner of police Abutu Yaro and Governor Hope Uzodimma.
Uzodimma who made the remark on Tuesday, June 15, during a condolence visit to the state police command headquarters in Owerri said the officers should shoot the bandits first before they are killed.
Speaking further, the governor reiterated the commitment of his government to ensure that all those apprehended and found guilty for criminal involvement are persecuted
Source: Legit.ng
