From Olanrewaju Lawal, Birnin Kebbi
Kebbi state Governor, Senator Abubakar Atiku-Bagudu has appealed to the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) to support the security agencies in their efforts to tackle insecurity particularly banditry in the Northwest region.
Bagudu stated this during the inauguration of NUJ Kebbi State Council held at the Presidential Lodge in Birnin Kebbi, the state capital.
Bagudu said: “Please NUJ cooperate with the security agencies, I beg you in the name of God, nobody is directing you, nobody is sensorring you but our security agencies particularly in the Northwest need support of the NUJ.
“People are paralysed with fear because of wrong reporting. I hear it everyday, communities do it, social media in particular does it.”
The governor sympathised with the security agencies particularly the police, assuming that a report gets to a DPO who had only 20 policemen in the division that about 200 suspected bandits came on motorcycles, “then what do you want the DPO to do? to commit suicide?
“It is the same thing, whenever we write insecurity – insecurity, we must remember that may be we are making people more afraid than they need to be.
“May be, where people are able to mobilise themselves as vigilante, as community leaders and confront the insecurity such stories written wrongly will make us… let me hide it.”
While assuring that such incidences happened a lot and causes problems a lot, Bagudu recalled that a major newspaper in Nigeria about a week ago published wrongly that FGC Yauri abducted students were released.
He lamented that the media outfit was arrogant that they can’t correct themselves even when confronted that the story was not correct.
“What happened, that night, a rival bandits’ group attempted to re- kidnap those children to refuse them from being release on the account of that wrong story. Let’s know that one day they will be held accountable by some power that will hold us accountable to our actions” he said.
Bagudu commended the NUJ members for opting to consensus that further foster unity and solidified the bond of relationship among its members.
The Governor advised Nigerian politicians to borrow a leave from Kebbi NUJ so that one day Nigeria would be able to produce a president by consensus instead of election.
In her speech, the Kebbi State Commissioner for Information, Hajiya Rakiya Tanko-Ayuba urged journalists to imbibe the spirit of professionalism in discharging their lawful responsibilities.
The Commissioner, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Information, Alhaji Garba Hamisu Zuru, appreciated the Governor for supporting the State chapter of the NUJ to attend the recent Delegate Conference held in Umahia, Abia State.
She urged the outgoing executives to support the new executives with useful advice, while urging the new exco to work closely with the old.
In his remarks, NUJ Zonal Secretary, Northwest Abdul -Razak Bello-Kaura, told the new executive that they have a very big task ahead of them.
He appreciated the members for exhibiting high sense of maturity, brotherliness and accommodation which he observed had culminated into a peaceful, successful and united delegate conference in Kebbi.
Earlier, Magistrate Isma’il Mungadi administered oath of office on the newly elected executives to run the affairs of the union in the next three years.
The new executives includes; Hamza Galadima-Zuru from Kebbi Television Chapel as Chairman, Ahmed Idris from Correspondents’ Chapel as Secretary and Abubakar Attahiru from State Information Chapel as Assistant Secretary.
Others were; Bello Sarki-Abubalar from Kebbi Radio, Treasurer, Junaidu Sani of Equity FM as Financial Secretary while the post of Auditor General went to Imran Musa also of Equity FM.
The post of Vice Chairman remained vacant as the two contestants, Abdullahi Musa-Yelmo from Kebbi Television and Nura Wakala-Bena from Nigeria Television Authority (NTA) withdrew their contest, meaning a bye election would be held at a later date.