Babajide Sanwo-Olu. |
The
media centre of the Governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress,
APC in Lagos, Banajide Sanwo-Olu, has come out to clear the air about the three
journalists who were injured at the rally which held in Lagos to usher in the
campaigns of the party proper.
According
to the statement signed by Gboyega Akosile of the Babajide Sanwo-Olu Media
Centre, the statement reads: “Our attention has been drawn to reports published
by some media outlets following a press statement by the International Press
Centre on the purported shooting of three journalists at Tuesday’s flag off of
the All Progressives Congress gubernatorial campaign rally held at the Sky
Power Grounds in Ikeja, Lagos. This is is inaccurate and not a representation
of what happened at the well attended and highly successful flag off campaign.
Over
50 journalists, the statement says, were accredited to cover the event and a
special arrangement was made to guarantee their safety with the provision of a
dedicated media platform. At no point was any member of the media
harassed, threatened or molested throughout the period of the campaign.
Journalists moved freely from one point to another in the expansive field and
no one was censored.
For
the records, the campaign began at 10 O'clock in the morning with several
events lined up, such as endorsements and open declaration of support for our
candidate, Mr. Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu. There was music, dance and
jubilation by party faithful who came out enmasse to witness the epoch-making
event. The State Party Chairman, Alhaji Tunde Balogun, assisted by the
incumbent Governor of Lagos State. Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, presented the official
flag of the party to our standard bearer, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu.
While
His Excellency, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, remarks was going on, sounds suspected to
be gun shots rented the air.
Characteristically,
people who were close to where the sound came from ran for dear lives.
Unfortunately,
some three journalists, Emmanuel Oladesu of the Nation newspaper, Temitope
Ogunbanke of the New Telegraph newspaper and Abiodun Yusuf of Ibile TV were
caught up in the melee, orchestrated by two factions of the National Union of
Road Transport Workers (NURTW). They sustained injuries and were rushed to the
hospital for treatment. These gentlemen had since been discharged and had
returned to their various duty posts. Our office is in touch with the affected
journalists.
Rather
than celebrate inaccuracies, the IPC should have expressed concern and asked
pertinent questions on why there was security breach at such a highly mobilized
political gathering. The body should have bothered itself on where the
policemen were when the perpetrators carried out the criminal act.
We
encourage our media partners to seek clarification from our office on matters
relating to our campaign before going to the press. That is the minimum
requirement for ethical journalism.
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