Leadership (Abuja)
Betty Irabor
17 October 2007
Abuja — The publisher of a popular weekly newspaper in Uyo EVENTS newspaper Mr. Jerome Imeime was on Wednesday last week arrested by security agents.
Mr. Imeime's arrest was allegedly based on the latest edition of his newspaper captioned "Akpabio finger treasury."
The publisher was said to have been picked up on the ground of Ibom Hall while attending a Christian Crusade organised by Winners Chapel, where Bishop David Oyedepo ministered.
An eye witness who spoke to Leadership on condition of anonymity claimed that he was manhandled before being whisked away to an unknown destination.
When news of the publisher's arrest filtered on Thursday, search parties by his family, friends and colleagues established that he was being held by a federal government security outfit.
But in a press statement issued by the Independent Publishers Association in the state , it carpeted the security agents for the indiscriminate arrest of ordinary innocent citizen who was performing his lawful duty.
The publishers and other local media editors and practitioners have urged President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua to prevail on the security agencies in Akwa Ibom State to follow the due process of the law, by observing all known democratic processes in all matters relating to the media.
They insisted that a censored press is a recipe for bad governance and which is capable of short changing the peoples.
The state government, through its commissioner of information Mr. Census Ekpu has distanced itself from the arrest and the detention of the publisher.
The commissioner at an emergency meeting with newsmen in Uyo, stated that the government under Chief Godswill Akpabio has no hand in the arrest and detention of the publisher.
According to the commissioner "the Gov. Godswill Akpabio as you know, is media friendly and as such, will never order the arrest or detention of any newsman or publisher in the state.
Mr. Ekpu reiterated the determination of the state government to continue to enjoy the confidence of the press through sustained cordial relationship.
He denied allegations made against the governor in the controversial publication, and advised journalists to always cross check their facts before any publication is made.
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