Ayodeji Ake
The wife of the remanded journalist, Ayodele Samuel, publisher of Taraba Truth and Facts Newspaper, has pleaded with the Taraba State Governor, Darius Ishaku, to release her husband, saying his absence is tolling on the family.
Speaking in tears at the recent press conference organised by the Coalition of Journalists of Conscience (CJC) in Lagos, Mrs. Mercy Samuel, said her children have not been going to school because the incarceration of her husband.
According to her, “I plead with the Taraba State Government to release my husband, if not for anything, for the sake of the family.”
The General Secretary of CJC, Akinwale Kasali, while addressing journalists, called on the Nigerian Police Force, the Commissioner of Police Taraba and the State Governor, Darius Ishaku, to kindly honour the court ruling and free Ayodele Samuel.
He said: “Samuel was arraigned at a Magistrate Court in Jalingo presided by Justice Garba S. Garba on a two-count charge of defamation and injurious falsehood.
“The charges were filed against him by the state governor through the office of the Attorney General of the state.
“It comes as a reaction from nurtured grievance over a publication on page 5 of the Taraba Truth and Facts Newspaper, dated September 17, 2022, with the title ‘Taraba for Sale’.
“The publication alleges a possible sale of the Taraba State-owned Mambilla Beverages Company and state property, including the liaison office in Abuja, in which similar publications
had appeared on other prominent Nigerian media before the publication on Taraba Truth and Facts without rebuttal.”
Akinwale confirmed that the bail conditions were met, but it is quite unclear how the publisher has been remanded. What is certain is the treacherous abuse of power by the state government.
He said: “Now, the Magistrate Court Registrar is saying the case file has been transferred to the state High Court, which is a plan to frustrate the bail process and remand the innocent media entrepreneur further at the custody of the Taraba State Police Command long enough to satisfy Governor Ishaku’s thirst for oppression.”
