The way and manner with which the mainstream media in Nigeria tows the government line through the circulation of deceitful/false information and subjecting the unsuspecting public to darkness, is to say the least, most despicable.
Since the militarization of the South-East region began, there have been irrefutable trending news about unlawful arrests, torture, extra-judicial killings, extortion and intimidation. The compromised Nigeran media yet insists on propagating verbatim, reports from the police and other forces. Their statements, headlines and entire reports have turned out to be outright lies or partly made up. The military totally denied the bombardment of innocent Orlu citizens, whom they deliberately targeted within the area in order to provoke a reaction from the operatives of Eastern Security Network (ESN). So many innocent citizens were killed. The embarrassing issue of an innocent man unlawfully arrested and tagged "ESN's second in command" after the slain Ikonso, is a shameless lie dished out by the Nigerian armed forces and carried by the media. That man is above 60 years and does not fall within the age bracket of ESN members, talkless of being a commander.
The issue of the army denying the bombing of Orlu which was said to have been publicly supported by the Nigerian media, is most saddening. The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC Igbo Service), dutifully carried out investigations on the same matter and discovered that a house in Uli in Ihiala Local Government Area of Anambra State, was actually touched by air strikes. The Nigerian media have reneged on their journalistic ethics in pursuit of complicits against the plight of the people. They fail to investigate and apply their conscience by interviewing the people concerned to establish the truth. When Ahmed Gulak was assasinated in Owerri, Imo State, in what clearly appeared to be a politically motivated attack, the police quickly concluded that it was ESN operatives that carried out the attack without verifiable evidence. Some able-bodied Biafrans were innocently killed and many others were arrested on mere accusation. A co-occupant of the vehicle that conveyed Gulak had described the assailants as having the appeaeance of ESN members, outfits and vehicles. These formed all the evidence the police needed to extra-judicially perpetrate their heinous act. The Governor later debunked the police story and accepted the killing had political undertone. The killings, torture, arrests, extortion and the assault on civilian communities in Imo State have continued unabated.
The outrage questioning such concocted evidence was presented through few courageous media outlets which despite threats, have continued to expose the excesses of the army and police on the innocent. Majority of the media houses only depend on the fraudulent police press statements for their publications. An innocent oil worker who visited Imo State for a burial, was paraded as a culprit but was later released because a family member of his in the armed forces intervened. He was detained and asked to bring ten million naira as bail bond by the police team led by Abba Kyari. An innocent church attendant was shot and stripped naked by the same police. He was framed up and presented as an "unknown gunman". The conspiracies of the police with the media via press comferences have helped them to cover up numerous unjustified killings and brutality. Since no one asks questions, they just conduct press comferences that are riddled with lies and the media helps them to propagate hatred and distrust.
There are ongoing secret killings and massive arrests of indigenous citizens. They are being taken away from their houses to unknown locations for possible execution and yet, the Nigerian media keeps mute. Why the blackout on the genocide being committed in the South-East region?
The Nigerian media have been writing all manner of junks and propagating lies about Igbo Muslims in the East, relocating to the North for safety. They said that IPOB are threatening the Igbo Muslim community in the South-East. The media is hereby challenged to provide verifiable evidence about this claim. It is both baseless and malicious targeted at tanishing the image of Biafrans. IPOB has never threatened anyone who has no hand in terrorizing the Biafran people. IPOB is a peaceful and armless movement that peacefully co-exists with other ethnic groups and religious faithfuls within Biafraland. The Nigerian media should desist from instigating ethnic bias, hatred and religious bigotry. How can IPOB threaten their own people, their own flesh and blood? The very same people they are sacrificially fighting to protect?
The struggle for freedom is for all tribes and religious beliefs within Biafraland. In Biafra, you can believe in whatever you want and live peacefully without intimidation.
The agitations across the land stem from years of injustice and government's grave inaction. The media must take responsibility and take unbiased lead against the foregoing for a change! That which clearly stares in the face, cannot be denied.
The Nigerian media should be professional and uphold at all times, journalistic ethics in all it's reportage. It should stop instigating hate by towing the line of a vampiric and insincere government. It can courageously take the lead by ushering in the much needed difference through the publication and propagation of the truth.
Written by Samuel Uchenna
Edited by Emmanuel Iwuchukwu
For Family Writers Press International
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