EX-President Goodluck Jonathan has again denied allegations that he is sponsoring the Niger Delta Avengers.
He added that the allegation was being sponsored by those who were intimidated by his rising profile in Nigeria and abroad.
The former President said this in a statement by his spokesman, Mr. Ikechukwu Eze, on Thursday.
There had been publications that the
Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government had begun probing Jonathan over
alleged link to the Niger Delta Avengers.
The statement, however, said, “It is sad
that the publications wore the cloak of deceit from the same misguided
characters that are hell-bent on pulling down the former President
despite his clear record of diligent service to his country and
long-standing
commitment to the good of the society.
“There is no doubt that there exists
such people who may have scores to settle with the former President, but
are now feeling frustrated by the fact that his national and
international profiles have continued to rise despite their recourse to
endless muck-raking character assassination. Such people will stop at
nothing to continue to throw obstacles, albeit futilely, on his path.
“We are aware that the same people
approached other well-meaning newspapers with the same false
information, but they were wise to turn it down on account of its
absurdity.”
Jonathan advised the media to be
professional and do more of investigative reporting instead of making
reference to allegations of aggrieved militants.
He said no responsible security agency would release such falsehood to the press.
The statement added, “From what we know
about intelligence gathering, there is no responsible government agency
that would rush, as claimed in the newspaper stories, to adopt the
accusations of a questionable rebellious organisation as its own
findings, without applying the professional processes of rigour and due
diligence.
“Our media houses should be careful not
to make the country a laughing stock by being hoodwinked into passing
off the perverted voices of irritant groups as that of our
well-respected official and security authorities.”
The ex-President said newspapers
promoting spurious allegations against him were toying with libel and
destroying the image of Nigeria.
“Apart from toying with the serious
issue of libel, those newspapers lending themselves to be cheaply used
by miscreants are also doing gross disservice to our collective good and
the image of the country,” he said.
Credit: Punch
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