7th March, 2012
A reporter with Delta State based newspaper, Zion Nationale, Jude Obiemenyego, recently had more than he could chew while he was investigating a scoop about some alleged shady deals in a government agency.
The reporter told P.M.NEWS that he got a tip-off that Mrs. Ebonka, wife of a former Deputy Governor of Delta State, who is the acting General Manager of the Delta State Environmental Protection Agency (DELSEPA), had a petition pending against her at the anti-graft agencies – Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC). The amount involved in the petition according to Jude is N28 million.
However, instead of getting a response to his enquiries he ended up being arrested by a police officer and an operative of the State Security Service (SSS) who were called in by Mrs. Ebonka.
“Mrs. Ebonka insisted that I must furnish her with the identity of my source. But I vehemently refused based on the ethics of the profession,” Jude said.
“This obviously did not go down with her as she alerted two of her staff, Victor Okolie and Mordi. She also called the Police Officer In charge of the Asaba International Airport, Mr. Raphael and an SSS operative at the airport,” he went further.
Jude alleged that the two gun-wielding security agents threatened him with their guns as they arrested him, adding that he got in touch with the Commissioner of Police, Mamman Tsafe, who ordered that all parties involved in the drama should come to the Police Headquarters in Asaba.
“At the Police Headquarters, Mamman Tsafe assigned the matter to the Assistant Commissioner of Police in-charge of Criminal Investigations Department (CID) who later re-assigned it to the O/C Anti-Vice where I and Ebonka made statements.
“I was released on bail after the intervention of the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Mr. Charles Muka while Mrs. Ebonka withdrew the matter through a written document,” he disclosed.
The reporter said that since his ordeal with Mrs. Ebonka he has been receiving series of threat calls from unidentified callers coupled with the fact that some unknown people invaded the Asaba newspapers distribution point recently carting away copies of Zion Nationale newspaper meant for circulation.
By Isaacc Olamilekan/Benin