Ilediagu’s arrest followed the publication of a news item, titled, “Pandemonium in parts of Enugu as gunmen enforce sit-at-home, Airforce respond.”
The dark days of dictatorial intimidation of the media may have returned to Enugu as Governor Peter Mbah has allegedly begun to implement a programme of indiscriminate arrest and intimidation of journalists for doing their job.
Mbah, who is allegedly implementing this with the active collaboration of the Nigeria Police Force, on Friday, July 7, 2023, facilitated the arrest and detention of the publisher of News Centre, an online blog, Mike Ilediagu, by the anti-kidnapping unit of the Enugu State Police Command.
Ilediagu’s arrest followed the publication of a news item, titled, “Pandemonium in parts of Enugu as gunmen enforce sit-at-home, Airforce respond.”
His report followed the attacks on residents of some Enugu communities by hoodlums enforcing the illegal sit-at-home order, imposed by a faction of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), led by the self-proclaimed Prime Minister of Biafra Republic Government in Exile, Simon Ekpa.
Although the journalist, who previously worked for Dream FM, a radio station in Enugu, pulled down the story upon getting wind of his impending arrest, the police still detained him.
The police cited “orders from above,” a reference to the state governor or federal government authorities.
Governor Mbah last week banned the sit-at-home and threatened to shut down markets that refused to open on Mondays.
The separatist organisation, the Indigenous People of Biafra initially ordered mandatory sit-at-home protests on Mondays in Southeast Nigeria to call for the release of its detained leader, Nnamdi Kanu, but it later made a U-turn, saying the action would affect businesses in the region.
In defiance of Mbah’s order, the Simon Ekpa faction of the separatist organisation imposed a seven-day sit-at-home in the region, a situation that has led to the flexing of muscles by the authorities in Enugu and the faceless IPOB members.
The gunmen however made good their threat to enforce the sit-at-home order when, in obedience to Mbah’s order, businesses attempted to open, leading to the outbreak of violence in some parts of the state.
Although it was reported that some of the panic that was triggered in places like Abakpa Nike, Enugu, Emeke, Agbani, Garriki and Nsukka were caused by false alarms, other reports showed attempts were made by the gunmen to enforce the order in some remote parts of the state.
This was later corroborated by reports of the killing of four IPOB members by the police along Agbani Road in Enugu on Friday morning.
SaharaReporters reported on Saturday that police operatives recovered the “bodies of four of the male alleged hoodlums, in a forest behind G. Ede Filling Station/Seven-Up, at Awkunanaw, Enugu”.
SaharaReporters gathered that the police accused Ilediagu of “inciting violence”.
The regime of violence being perpetrated in Enugu has led to the shutdown of business activities, with the managers of Pinnacle Oil, a petrol station said to be owned by Governor Mbah, employing the services of mobile policemen to guard its assets against possible attack by the regional secessionist agitators.
Although Ilediagwu was released Friday night following the intervention of the NUJ President, Isiguzo, fear and panic have gripped journalists in the city.
There are reports of an alleged move by the governor to ensure that news items to be published in the state have his seal of approval before publication.
The fear was heightened by rumours that another journalist, Petrus Obi, publisher of EveryDay News, was also going to be arrested last Friday evening, but he reportedly went underground after getting wind of the alleged move to arrest him.
It was learnt that between Saturday evening and Sunday morning, journalists in Enugu shied away from reporting the arrest of their colleague. However, some of them expressed their anger on their closed WhatsApp group, while others, apparently not knowing whether there was a mole among them, called for the verification of stories before publication.
Reacting to the incident, one of the journalists wrote, “This government sees everything as fake news except it's emanating from their camp. When motorists blocked Nike-Nsukka Road with even a video circulating to that effect, they called it fake news.”
Another member of the WhatsApp group wrote on the platform: “Gentlemen of the Press, good evening. I have been able to find out what happened and why he is being held. Let the rescue team return home. It’s a directive from above within the security architecture, in relation to some fake News carried. But intervention is in top gear with Govt house.
"But we all need to be careful, especially our colleagues in the new media. Don't publish what you cannot verify. Don't even write if you’re sure you can defend it. The Governor we have is not the type that succumbs to blackmail. He is a technocrat and has no time for shenanigans. No need for further actions. He will be out.”
But this poster was quickly chided by another person who wondered why he had concluded that his colleague was guilty as alleged and replied thus: “I'm disappointed in you, senior brother. You are already condemning the young man without any benefit of the doubt. People who wrote that there was pandemonium were right in their reports. The issue of fake news does not exist here.
"This is purely intimidation of the media in the state. But I can see that the leadership of the council has already pandered to the whims of the government in this. There's no environment where this kind of thing is done. Let me not conclude yet until I see the action from the council. This is condemnable in every sense of it. It can only happen where everyone.”