Skip to main content

Group Blasts Cross River Governor For Lying About Agba Jalingo On National TV, Demands Journalist's Immediate Release


The Free Jalingo Group has slammed Cross River State governor, Ben Ayade, for lying on national television about detained journalist, Agba Jalingo. 

Jalingo was arrested in August 2019 for exposing the disappearance of N500m meant for the establishment of Cross River State Microfinance Bank. 

He was arrested shortly after that period and charged for terrorism. 

In a statement on Wednesday, the group said it was shocked to see Governor Ayade on Channels Television  trying to change the narrative over the arbitrary detention of Jalingo, who is the Publisher of Cross River Watch.

The statement reads, "Ayade made a false claim that Mr Agba Jalingo had admitted the treason charges against him in court. 

"This is a lie told to sway public opinion and defame Jalingo. 

"The court records are there to prove that what the governor said never happened.

"In fact, the trial of Agba Jalingo is yet to commence. How could a plea of guilt be entered when there hasn’t been a trial yet?

"He also told the public that belonging to a political party in whatever capacity precludes Mr Jalingo from being a journalist. 

"Without a doubt, this is a baseless accusation. There is no law which says that journalists cannot participate in politics. 

"Governor Ayade also claimed that he has been providing financial support to Cross River Watch, an online blog founded and run by Agba Jalingo. Again, this is false. 

"Cross River Watch was launched on August 27, 2012 with an office along IBB way in Calabar. Another office apartment was rented along Ndidem Usang-Iso Road, Calabar in 2013. At the time the management and staff of Cross River Watch moved into the new office in 2014, Mr Ayade was still a senator. He had no cause to and never did provide any financial support. 

"At that time, he rather sought to counter the critical stance of Cross River Watch by sponsoring the founding of other online blogs with the sole purpose of discrediting Cross River Watch and thereby dissuade it from publishing news items that were perceived as anti-government."

Free Jalingo Group also debunked claims by Ayade that he had been feeding and supporting the detained journalist for the five months he had been in jail. 

It called on the governor to publicly prove his claims.

The group called on Nigerians and international community to force the governor to release the journalist, who they said had done nothing wrong other than reporting the truth.

Human Rights Journalism Politics News AddThis :  Original Author :  SaharaReporters, New York Disable advertisements : 

from All Content
via

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Nigerian Academy Of Science Inducts First Female President

The Nigerian Academy of Science has inducted a professor of Parasitology/Epidemiology, Ekanem Ikpi Braide, as its 19th President on Thursday. In a statement issued by Oladoyin Odubanjo, the Executive Secretary of the Academy, Braide is the Academy’s first female President in 44 years of existence. It read, “Braide was a member of the national committee that achieved the laudable feat of guinea worm eradication in Nigeria. “She has a rich professional experience as a researcher and an administrator. In July 2010, Professor Braide was honoured by the President of Nigeria with the award of Officer of the Order of the Federal Republic (OFR) for her contribution to disease control in Nigeria. “She was nominated by the Honourable Minister of Health to serve in the Ministerial Expert Advisory Committee on COVID-19 Health Sector Response (MEACoC-HSR). “Professor Braide served as Vice-Chancellor, Cross River University of Technology (CRUTECH) Calabar, Nigeria (2004 to 2009) and as P

NLNG Signs Letter Of Intent On Delayed Gas Expansion Project

The Nigerian Natural Liquefied Gas LTD has signed a letter of intent for the engineering, procurement and construction of its long held up Train Seven project. In a statement released by the company on Wednesday, it said that the $10bn project will be executed by a consortium of Italian firm Saipem, Japan’s Chiyoda and South Korea’s Daewoo. The statement reads, “The project will form part of the investment of over $10bn including the upstream scope of the LNG value chain, thereby boosting the much needed Foreign Direct Investment profile of Nigeria.” Managing Director of NLNG, Tony Atta, said in 2018 that the Final Investment Decision would be made in the fourth quarter of that year. This did not however, materialize. According to the release, the project will have a four to five-year execution time after the signing of the FID. The project is expected to add an extra 8 million tons per annum of gas to the 22 mtpa currently exported by the company. Oil News AddThis : 

Former Maritime Agency Boss, Buba Galadima, Accuses AMCON Of Witch-hunt After Property Takeover

  A former Director-General of the Nigeria Maritime Agency, Buba Galadima, has accused the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria of witch-hunt after the agency took possession of his business and assets on Tuesday in Abuja. Galadima, an ardent critic of President Muhammadu Buhari, claimed that he did not borrow money or have unpaid debt with Unity Bank, which lodged a complaint against him and occasioned AMCON’s move on Tuesday. The properties taken over include House No. 15, Addis Ababa Crescent, Wuse Zone 4, Federal Capital Territory, Abuja and House No. 4, Bangui Street, Wuse 2, also in Abuja.  Reacting to the situation, Galadima said, “This is an attempt to disgrace and break me down. This is injustice and an attempt to humiliate me. "But I am unbreakable and they can never silence me. They sacked me and over 50 people that sleep in the apartment. "We don’t know where to go. We will remain on the streets. We will remain on the streets until God provi