Editor-in-chief of Daily Trust Newspaper, Mannir Dan Ali, has reacted to the military siege on the offices of his medium nationwide.
He said the siege and subsequent arrest of some editorial staff in Maiduguri Borno state was a targeted attempt by the army to clampdown on the paper for ‘comprehensively’ reporting the many losses and defeats of the military by Boko Haram insurgents in the Northeast region.
Speaking with newsmen yesterday, Dan Ali said the military authorities merely latched onto Sunday’s lead report on the newspaper which bore the bold caption: “Military prepares massive operation to retake Baga, others” to accuse the medium of ‘exposing’ the surprise strategy which the military was planning to unleash on the insurgents thereby ‘leaking’ information to the enemies.
“The military is not happy with our reporting of the Baga attacks by Boko Haram and is just using today’s story as an excuse to clamp down on the newspaper,” the Editor-in-Chief said.
However, he assured that the contentious matter of his medium’s coverage style of the anti-terror war in the Northeast was already being resolved by the government.
“Government officials are trying to resolve the matter,” he added.
Recall, a detachment of Nigerian soldiers on Sunday sealed off the Abuja headquarters of Media Trust, Limited, Publishers of Daily Trust, Weekend Trust, Sunday Trust and Aminiya, over stories related to Boko Haram insurgency.
GRASSROOTS Correspondent who monitored the activities of the operatives in Abuja reports that the six-storey building was besieged at about 6pm on Sunday.
The soldiers were said to have been led by a 2nd Lieutenant whose team ordered every staff out of the premises.
The soldiers were also said to have shut down the computers and laptops after which the items were carted away.
Staff of the company were seen loitering around MAFEMI Crescent, Off Solomon Lar Way, Utako, Abuja.
It was learnt that the soldiers, some of whose faces were masked, ordered all staff out of the building, asking them to converge at the front of the complex, where they were surrounded by some soldiers.
The staff were also asked to produce the Political Editor, Hamza Idris, who at the time was not within the complex.
A team of soldiers had equally around 4pm raided the Maiduguri Regional Office of the company in Borno State, where they were said to have arrested two senior editorial staff on hand.
The soldiers were said to have also asked for Hamza, whose byline was on the story seen as offensive by the soldiers.
Sunday Trust equally featured an Editorial opinion on January 6, 2019 which indicated that the government was running out of excuses on the Boko Haram insurgency.
Some staff of the company said that some of the soldiers who raided the office later brought a list of persons detailed for arrest after most of the staff on hand had dispersed.
The detachment of soldiers and plain-clothe operatives were still stationed in the complex to prevent any form of production as at 8.30pm on Sunday.
The soldiers were stationed at the gate entrance gate after a security man attached to the company had taken inventory of the seized items before the soldiers took them away.