Coalition for Whistle-blower Protection and Press Freedom has said it is alarmed at a press statement by Tony Nwulu wherein he reiterated earlier threats made against its member and Publisher/Editor-in-Chief of OrderPaper Nigeria, Oke Epia.
The body said Nwulu’s bogus and baseless tagging of Epia as a politician and not a journalist is ridiculous and exposes him as one on a sinister scheme to further harass, blackmail, intimidate and muzzle the media with the sole aim of preventing it from performing its legal and constitutional duties of holding public officials to account.
The group said on Saturday in a statement: “For the records, Epia is one of Nigeria’s notable journalists of his generation with several remarkable contributions in investigative in journalism and growth and development of the media. The OrderPaper Nigeria platform he founded and manages is a commendable innovation that is making its mark already in the reportage of and engagement with the legislature, especially the National Assembly of Nigeria.
“That a journalist took leave of office at a time in his career to serve in public office in a professional capacity and thereafter returned to the newsroom after his tour of duty does not make him a politician, or any less a journalist. Therefore, the coalition views Mr. Nwulu’s claim that Epia is a politician and not a journalist as a subtle underground plot for possible molestation and attacks from political operatives and thugs in furtherance of the former lawmaker’s interests. We call on the police and other law enforcement authorities to take note of this dangerous dimension to Mr. Nwulu’s attack on the media and journalists and further state that should anything untoward happen to Epia and his colleagues at OrderPaper, he would be held responsible and accountable.
“As stated in our earlier statement on this matter, we make this as a final warning to Mr. Nwulu to desist from his ill-advised attack and harassment of the media. Since The OrderPaper have said they stand by their story, Mr. Nwulu is obliged to toe the decent and civilized path of proving them wrong by making the facts available to the public.”
The media houses and Civil Society Organizations in the coalition are: Premium Times, Sahara Reporters, OrderPaper, The Cable and Daily Trust Newspaper.
Others are Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism, Premium Times Centre for Investigative Journalism, African Centre for Media & Information Literacy, Civic Media Lab, Civil Society Network Against Corruption, International Centre for Investigative Reporting, International Press Centre, Media Rights Agenda, Nigeria Union of Journalists, Paradigm Initiative, Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project and HEDA Resources Centre.
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