AS you may probably know, Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu and Prince Nduka Obaigbena (the Duke), the ‘biggest boys’ in the publishing sector in terms of ingenuity, vision, aristocratic clout, entrepreneurial versatility, flamboyance, global interconnect of net-worth friends, ever-rising profile and modest opulence, are the publisher, and the Editor-in-Chief/Chairman of The Sun and THISDAY Groups of Newspapers, respectively.
Incontrovertibly, both publications have become the benchmark, symbols/pace-setters/reference points of robust journalism in Nigeria. For captains of industry, the political elite and the summit social class, their day is incomplete without both titles—even with the latter’s characteristic lateness to the newsstands! Unlike other newspapers, its multitudinous clientele patiently wait for the market leader until it arrives, always behind circulation schedule! In contradistinction, with early bird, Sun, on newsstands as early as 5 a.m., most patrons make it an exclusive collector’s item.
Of all the about 300 newspapers in the country, it was only THISDAY that deemed it fit to do a damning editorial entitled “The abduction of Citizen Wabara” on April 17, 2014, shortly after my kidnap by the sadistic former governor of Abia State, Mr. Theodore Ahamefule Orji. Once you read this medium and THISDAY, you have read other newspapers and don’t need to bother about them, but if you read others and don’t read Sun and ThisDay, inwardly you still look vacuous on authoritative economic, social and political issues, national policies and transnational direction!
It took only a phone call from London by Dr. Kalu to the former IGP to ensure that I did not spend a second night in one of the numerous cells I was circulated in Umuahia all-day by callous policemen under the commissionership of a certain Adamu…something who were all dollarized by Ocheonwu euphemistically and childishly called Ochendo to carry out his dastardly bidding! I salute OUK for my liberation and other invaluable/illimitable roles in my existential humanism.
For the second time since the epochal monstrosity of T. A. Orji, I take off my hat to Otunba Femi Adesina , the Special Assistant (Media) to President Muhammadu Buhari, who, as the Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief of The Sun, personally coordinated efforts aimed at extricating me from the suffocative manacles of T. A. Orji and his murderous agents of three years ago!
But for God’s awesomeness—and no other factor—I would have been history by now. As the former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, once noted after surviving the fatalistic grip of the late Sani Abacha, each day I live today is an “extra” day! I will continue to thank the Almighty unstoppably for graciously sparing my life despite my frailties. I keep praying that God should imbue me with the heart to forgive my enemies, particularly T. A. Orji and his tribe of power drunks like James Okpara and the overzealous magistrate in Umuahia whose despicable name I cannot recollect immediately.
How can I ever forget the back page articles on this festering sore by the Adonis Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief of The Sun, Eric Osagie and his counterpart in New Telegraph and president of the Nigerian Guild of Editors, Madam Olufunke Egbemode, among other in-house and external interveners. As for those who should have cared a hoot, via articles but never did by turning a blind eye—for whatever idiosyncratic reason—I wish them well, as a corpse looks like a log to those unconcerned!
As I reflect on the seizure tragedy, I have the compelling retrospection to reproduce that damning and superlative editorial by THISDAY:
“Apparently acting on some ‘orders from above’ in Umuahia, the Abia State Police Command recently stormed the Surulere, Lagos, residence of Mr. Ebere Wabara, a journalist with The Sun Newspaper, who also doubles as Special Assistant, Media, to Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu (former governor of Abia State), and abducted him in the presence of his wife and children. Wabara’s captors thereafter took him to Sholoki Police Station, Aguda and the Oyingbo Police Station, Lagos, respectively, before finally whisking him away to Umuahia in Abia State, where he was maltreated and detained in a solitary cell.
“Since his release on bail following the intervention of the Inspector General of Police, Wabara has taken ill as a result of the dehumanizing treatment he received in the hands of his captors. This fact notwithstanding he was recently arraigned, in absentia, at the Abia State Magistrate’s Court by the Abia Police Command and slammed with a 10-count charge relating to ‘seditious publications’ against the Abia State Governor, Mr. Theodore Orji. While we join others in unreservedly condemning this most flagrant violation of the fundamental human rights of a citizen, we make haste to add that the pathetic story is a big setback to the freedom of the press and democracy in Nigeria.
“Whatever the motivation, the arrest of a journalist at the instance of a governor and without due process is barbaric misuse of state power. It is also preposterous that the Abia State Police Command has slammed an unsustainable 10-count charge against Wabara, hinged on a ‘sedition law’ that had ceased to be applicable in Nigeria. Or, is it that Abia State Government and the police command are not aware that the Nigerian courts in the popular cases of DPP V Chike Obi and Arthur Nwankwo V State have dismissed sedition law (as contained in sections 50 and 51of the Criminal Code) as being inconsistent with the right to freedom of expression enshrined in our constitution?
“There is even a more serious issue. Even if for the sake of argument the Abia State Police Command acted properly in charging Wabara under an existing law, the journalist is still protected in carrying out his professional duties under Section 39 (1) (2) of the 1999 Constitution and the Freedom of Information Act. It is regrettable that the Abia State Governor and the Abia State Police Command would behave as if Nigeria was still under military rule, during which period the press suffered emasculation, intimidation, suppression and proscription.
“In case the men and officers of the Abia State Police Command as well as those beating the drums for them have forgotten, we may need to remind them that with the restoration of democratic government in Nigeria on May 29, 1999, and the passage of the Freedom of Information Act, the freedom of the press and the fundamental human rights enshrined in sections 33-46 of the 1999 Constitution have been fully restored to all Nigerians. So the idea of abducting a journalist in Lagos, and transporting him, Gestapo-like, on the basis of some ‘offensive’ publication is not only primitive but indeed, also condemnable.
“We urge Governor Theodore Orji and the Abia State Police Command to withdraw forthwith the trumped-up charges against Wabara, with a letter of apology and adequate compensation for violating his fundamental human rights. They must also ensure that journalists are no longer harassed or intimidated in the course of their duties. If they object to their publications, especially if they believe them to be libelous, the civilized thing to do is to take legal action against Wabara. Resorting to taking the law into their hands, as it was done in this case, is clearly unacceptable. We call on the Inspector General of Police to call the authorities at Abia State Police Command to order.” The memorable editorial ends here.