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Three journalists in Adamawa State have petitioned the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris and Acting Director General, Department of Security Service (DSS), Matthew Seiyifa over the state government’s alleged plans to eliminate them.
In a two-page petition though their lawyer, Sunday J. Wugira, they alleged that some security operatives attached to Government House, Yola have organised a killer squad to eliminate his clients over their reports in their media organisations.
“The killer group, according to intelligence report, comprises a blend of selected security operatives attached to the governor and a horde of political thugs. “The squad, which is being coordinated from the Government House, has been assigned to either eliminate the journalists or maim them by breaking their hands and legs,” the petition stated.
Specifically, the squad has TVC Correspondent, Adenusi Owolabi, Sahara Reporters Correspondent, Phineas Padio and a freelance reporter with The Punch, Hindi Livinus, as targets, it added.
“The killer squad has figured us out as dangerous journalists, whose investigative style of reporting will expose the reality on ground in the state, thereby swaying public perception about the current government.
“To them, if allowed unchecked, this will have negative consequences on Governor Mohammed Jibrilla Bindow’s re-election bid in 2019,” the petition further stated.
The Guardian learnt that Journalists have been operating under fear of attacks, as government officials are not comfortable with the objective reporting of Bindow’s government, which many have described as a failure.
Also, two weeks ago, National President of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Waheed Odusile, was in Yola on the governor’s invitation to intervene in the alleged awry relationship between him and journalists in the state.
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