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The Bayelsa State Ministry of Education has launched arrests and intimidating tactics against Journalists practicing in the State over reportage of fraud in the Ministry.
National Wire learnt that trouble started when the duo of Mr Francis Dufugha, Publisher/Editor-in-chief of the Niger Delta Herald and Mr Emem Idio of the Vanguard Newspapers reported on fraudulent deductions allegedly perpetrated by the Director of Finance and Administration (DFA) of the Ministry against contractors handling projects in the Ministry.
Fielding questions from their colleagues Journalists who visited them on solidarity at the station, the duo stated that their alleged report did not fall short of ethical practice and professional conventions, saying the Ministry seems to have started a witch-hunt exercise of Journalists.
Dufugha and Idio noted that upon getting wind of the fraud allegations levelled against some officials of the Ministry, as chequered professionals they also resorted to hearing from the DFA before Press time.
They said: “We never imagined doing our jobs legally and professionally could incur the wrath of the ministry officials who from their actions were hell-bent on arresting us as a ploy to intimidate and silence the media in the state.
“When we got wind of these allegations on fraudulent deductions on various sums of money due contractors executing projects in the Ministry of Education we quickly as possible reached the DFA to hear from him before publication, but yet the ministry petitioned us and got us arrested by the Police”.
The duo called on the State Government to be weary of some of its appointees and others holding positions of trusts in the State, the duo said though they were unhurt on the first day of their arrest, they were again invited on Wednesday to appear before the Police for further questioning and investigation.
They added that: “But we’ve never been so surprised that in this information age, beaming our searchlight as Journalists through investigation in order to illuminate the truth has become an offense due to someone’s high handedness and phoney deals in the State’s Ministry of Education”.
