A suspected plan by the Imo State governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha, to move against one of the highflying newspapers operating in Imo State, Trumpeta newspapers, has been uncovered.
Following a report of an incident carried by the newspaper, the Imo State governor has requested security agencies to arrest and investigate Trumpeta publishers since it reported about the purported fire incident that occurred at the New market Owerri, last week.
On Wednesday last week, and ugly incident occurred at the market where spare parts were sold before they moved out from the area.
Immediately after Okorocha left the area after a visit in the evening hours, there was an outbreak of fire which the newspaper attributed to unknown sources.
However, in a petition to the State Department of Security Services, DSS by the Imo State government endorsed by a top office holder, the newspaper was asked to be investigated by the security agency stating that the prompt attention Trumpeta gave the information indicates that it allegedly knows about the fire cause of the incident despite the caveat by the tabloid that it was a handiwork of unknown persons.
The position of Okorocha is contained in a petition, the state government sent to the DSS, endorsed by a top government official. The newspaper from government sources became a prime suspect as one of those who caused the fire outbreak for reporting an incident ten hours after it occurred. As a matter of fact, the incident at New Market, Owerri occurred on Wednesday evening while the Trumpeta next edition that carried the story hit the news-stands on Thursday. Trumpeta runs three editions weekly: Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.
In its response to the petition concerning the fire incident, the Trumpeta wishes to ask when it has become an offence in Nigeria constitution or Journalism practice and ethics, for a newspaper to be accused of being privy to an incident it reported.
Except in other forms of government other than democracy, when has reportage of incidents by a newspaper amounts to an offence a state Governor and government writes DSS to arrest the publishers even when it is factual. The social media was abuzz with the reports of the fire incidents moments after it occurred before Trumpeta came up with the report the next day? More so, the state owned radio and TV, Orient FM also carried the news immediately by asking five fighters to proceed to the market for urgent intervention. Edua Amadi, an employee of the state government announced it on air during Igbo service.
Trumpeta is of the view that this is not the first time since its existence in 2011 that major incidents have been “promptly” reported as Government claimed. As part of its responsibilities to inform the public, the newspaper ensures prompt delivery in terms of news, especially on production days. Therefore, it amounts to theatre of absurdities for the state government to accuse Trumpeta of being privy to the market fire outbreak, because the newspaper carried the story the next day.
It would be recalled that sometimes in 2013, at about 11pm, a sad incident occurred at Umudagu Mbieri, in Mbaitoli LGA, where a big tree fell down and killed people in the area. Trumpeta was the only Owerri based newspaper that carried the story. Why didn’t Okorocha accuse the newspaper of causing the tragedy. The truth remains that after production processes had concluded that evening, the news from Umudagu Mbieri attracted the attention of the newspaper forcing the editorial crew to race back to the scene for on-the-spot assessment before returning to office for a fresh production schedule that appeared the next day.
Similarly, few incidents of fire outbreaks, auto crashes, collapse of buildings and kidnap cases that occurred in Imo in recent past caught the fancy of the newspaper which it never hesitated to give the desired attention. Why did the government of Okorocha fail to report the newspaper to security agencies for investigation after it was published but chose only the New Market case where the newspaper didn’t mention anyone as the cause because the editorial report said “unknown” persons.
