18th January, 2012
The Lagos State Government says it is heading to court over what it calls unfounded reports on the Lekki-Epe Expressway crisis by one of the dailies, Nigerian Tribune.
The newspaper had carried an advertorial yesterday captioned: “Governor Fashola, practice what you preach! Unlike the Lekki Toll Protest, the Army has not brutalised any Lagosian. Don’t send police to brutalise Lekki protesters and turn around to condemn the deployment of troops who have brutalised no one.”
The advertorial brought into the fore the reports of the Sunday Tribune of 18 December, 2011 in which the newspaper wrote: “1 killed, many injured in Lekki Tollgate Protest.”
At a news conference on Wednesday, the Lagos State Government lamented that the newspaper had consistently painted the government black over the issue, even when nobody died during the protest.
The advertorial was signed by Adamu Maimagani, the Social Secretary of One Nigeria Group.
Speaking at the conference at the Government Secretariat, Alausa in Ikeja, Lagos, South West Nigeria, attended by the Commissioners for Information and Strategy Mr. Adeyemi Ibirogba, his Environment counterpart, Mr. Tunji Bello as well as the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Ade Ipaye said government was pissed off by the advertorial.
Ipaiye said government had no issues with any section of the Nigerian press, adding, “we are taking it serious with this newspaper because it has thrown professionalism into the winds.
“We’ll deal with the newspaper legally because it has deviated from ethics of journalism based on truth, fair comment and professionalism.”
According to Ipaye, there was a row during the Lekki-Epe protest but insisted that no one died during the protest as the man purported to have died reported at the police station to debunk the story.
The Attorney General stated that investigations by the police later revealed that the man that was alleged to have been killed was a 39-year old employee of Power Holding of Nigeria (PHCN), Mr. Femi Ogunsanya.
He argued that the national daily deliberately doctored the report and the photograph of the alleged protester that was killed in order to further aggravate the protest and drag the image of the government in the mud.
“The man was actually arrested by the police during the pandemonium but he was later released to Mr. Alaba Williams,” he stated.
Also speaking, Commissioner for the Environment, Bello said the report carried by the newspaper was malicious and that in line with journalistic ethics, the newspaper should have retracted the story by now.
He said the government would drag Tribune before the Nigeria Press Council over the report and then explore legal option to seek redress.
—Kazeem Ugbodaga