Daily Times: We won’t be cowed over Sen Obiora’s intrigues – Folio Media Group
* Decries police partisan role in latest onslaught
* Says no cause for alarm
The Management of Folio Media Group (FMG), the owners and publishers of The Daily Times, has condemned in the strongest term, the premeditated action of former Senator Ikechukwu Obiora in connivance with the Nigeria Police to carry out an infamous action with a bid to cause disaffection among the teeming readers and subscribers of the heritage newspaper.
In a statement issued Tuesday night, the Management of FMG also decried the partisan role of the police in taking side in a matter that is subject to pending litigations and acting in a manner that depicts a force without a code of conduct.
According to the management, the incident of Tuesday could only be described as a reckless abuse of office and impunity.
It is also instructive to note that Obiora co-opted certain reporters from some media houses/online publications including the Premium Times, AIT, NAN, New Telegraph, Vanguard and Daily Post to do hatchet job in a bid to portray the Chairman of FMG/ Publisher of The Daily Times, Mr Fidelis Anosike and the Group Managing Director, Mr Noel Anosike, in bad light.
Ironically, the arraignment of Mr Fidelis Anosike and Mr Noel Anosike while the police claimed that the force is yet to conclude investigation smacks of desperation and bad faith. Definitely, this charade cannot stand the test of time.
The said Obiora was able to obtain the services of the GI Department of the Force CID to make a mockery of the proceedings before a Magistrates’ Court in Mpape, a suburb and slum area of the FCT.
In carrying out the strange arraignment before the court, the onetime senator and his cohorts, decided to engage in an unusual practice by going to Mpape, a remote area of the FCT and in a Magistrates’ Court that ordinarily lacks the jurisdiction over a matter that is currently pending before the Court of Appeal.
Incidentally, the presiding Magistrate, Azubuike Ukagu, acted in a strange manner, giving reason for one to express doubt whether the judiciary still remains the last hope of common man.
More disturbing is the situation in which the prosecutor, one ACP Njoku, stooped so low as to be conveyed to and from the court in the vehicle of Obiora (the complainant).
This development clearly indicates a contradiction of the twin principle of justice which literally translates to the maxim that one cannot be a judge in his own case.
We have therefore resolved to inform the general public including our readers of the resolve and position of the Management of FMG which is to ever continue to stand against corruption and impunity.
We also wish to state that it is against this background that we inform the general public that there is no cause for alarm as everything is under control as the FMG’s lawyer, Chief Wole Olanikpekun (SAN), has concluded necessary arrangement to do the needful in the matter
Mathew Dadiya, Abuja
