…accuses media of ‘bad press’

BY ABDULSALAM MOHAMMED
KANO-Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso of Kano State yesterday threatened journalists in the state for allegedly portraying his administration in bad light, warning that he would “sting” (sic) them like a snake.

Kwankwaso‘s threat to journalists came on the heels of a story published by a Northern-based tabloid titled: “Ramadan free feeding programme” which his government viewed as offensive.

Addressing a news conference, Kwankwaso said his administration would not condone “bad press”, alleging that the report was “sponsored by his opponents’’ to discredit him. He likened the newspaper report to a snake attack that will leave him with no option than to defend himself with equal venom.

Kwankwaso who stood up to demonstrate the meandering nature of the snake with his hand, and how it usually attacks its victim with a bite demonstrated to newsmen how he would responnd to alleged future attacks by the press, even as he reminded them of their responsibility to report event objectively. He further admonished them not to allow themselves to be used by politicians.

Kwankwaso later directed his media aides to register his anger and position in writing to the Correspondents Chapel of the Nigerian Union of Journalists, NUJ, in the state, just as he demanded appropriate response from them.

However, in a sharp reaction, the Correspondents chapel cautioned Governor Kwankwaso to refrain from intimidating and threatening journalists in the state especially, in view of his exalted position as the chief security officer of the state.

The statement by Jacob Adeola Ajakaiye noted that reporters had the constitutional rights to report events as they occured in the state, irrespective of whose ox was being gored.