Nigeria: Army Confiscates DAILY TRUST Newspapers

Though the Defence spokesperson, Major-General Chris Olukolade denied the clampdown, the army intercepted Daily Trust newspaper distribution to some states of the country and there was heavy presence of military men near the corporate headquarters of Media Trust Limited
6 June 2014

The following news release was sent to AllAfrica by the Management of Media Trust Ltd., publishers of DAILY TRUST in Nigeria

Heavily armed soldiers this morning confiscated copies of today's edition of DAILY TRUST across the country and disrupted the distribution of the paper in major cities including Abuja, Kano, Maiduguri and Port Harcourt.

The soldiers, who claimed they were acting on superior order, mounted road blocks along the major highways through which the newspaper is distributed, intercepted the delivery vans and detained some of the drivers.

The army also mounted road blocks around our offices in Abuja and Kano while copies were confiscated from newspaper vendors in other parts of the country.

The military authority has not advanced any reason for its action but it will be recalled that DAILY TRUST had published an exclusive lead story on Wednesday on the sharing of an Abuja barrack plots to Army generals and their spouses for personal use.

The report listed the beneficiaries of the plots as serving and retired military officers including Rear Admiral Ola Sa'ad, Air Vice Marshal Mohammed Umar and Lt. Gen. Azubuike Ihejirika, among others.

The report, which also contained the reactions of relevant Army authorities and officials of the Federal Capital Territory Administration, has not been refuted yet.

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