Yesterday, two journalists were reportedly detained in Kwara State. And it is said it was on the order of the Chief Press Secretary to Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, Rafiu Ajakaiye.
The two journalists who are blood brothers, are sons of Kunle Akogun, a veteran journalist and the Director of Corporate Affairs at the University of Ilorin. Whilst Abdulrasheed Akogun is the publisher of Fresh Insight News/TV, Dare Akogun is a reporter with Sobi FM, Ilorin.
The Akogun brothers, in a WhatsApp group alleged that the Chief Press Secretary to Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, Rafiu Ajakaiye influenced Kwara chapter of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ)’s election with #15M.
According to reports, the brothers made the assertion as a declarative sentence. Hence, it is a very weighty allegation.
CPS Ajakaiye has every right to prosecute such defamatory statement. When do we draw the line between politics and character assassination?
Journalists don’t write reports on beer palour talks. You see giddy evidence and write on it. We don’t write news through unverified voice messages being circulated on WhatsApp or viral post on Facebook. The Akogun brothers are detained and will be released if they can prove their claims. Even Mark Zuckerberg is disabling accounts that unrepentantly violate Community Standards.
Another report said the Akogun brothers refused bail and said they will proceed to court to prove their claims. They are journalists, sons of a journalist and trainer of journalists.
History can’t be erased, generations to come will have it on record that the CPS to Kwara State Government who is from Alabe ordered the Nigeria Police Force to detained two blood brothers Abdulrasheed Shoboi Akogun and Dare Akogun who are from Oke-Ode, over conversations in public WhatsApp group. The trio are from Ifelodun Local Government Area of Kwara State.
Whichever it is, I hope that the Akogun brothers and the CPS Ajakaiye settle their way!
Jimoh Taofik Adekunle
(Jimson Jaat Taofik)
