The Kwara State Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) is making every effort to persuade Rafiu Ajakaye, the Kwara State Governor’s Chief Press Secretary (CPS), to withdraw the petition against two of its members, Dare and Abdulrasheed Akogun, who were invited, questioned, arraigned, and then remanded at the Mandala Correctional Centre in Ilorin over an alleged defamation against his principal
This was announced in a statement that the state chairman and secretary, respectively, ‘Lanre Ahmed and Omotayo Ayanda, jointly signed.
Although we decided not to make it public beforehand, the leadership of the State Council of NUJ has taken it upon itself in recent days to ensure a peaceful resolution of the dispute involving its members, Dare Akogun and his brother, Abdulrasheed Akogun, in the spirit of “an injury to one is an injury to all.”
The National Secretariat of our Union had also intervened after receiving a thorough briefing on the situation.
The union is taking advantage of the occasion to thank the State Government for its assistance provided to journalists in the State and made a commitment to uphold their cordial relationship.
The Kwara NUJ also wants to make it clear that none of its members protested the detention of the aforementioned union members at the Kwara State Police Command headquarters in Ilorin early on Friday (October 14, 2022), despite CPS’s petition to Rafiu Ajakaye, the governor of Kwara State, supporting the detention.
While we acknowledge that it is the sole prerogative of those who feel aggrieved to express their outrage over the state police command’s decision to place both Dare Akogun and Abdulrasheed Akogun in detention in accordance with constitutional protections, the general public should be made aware that no member of the state council of NUJ took part in the demonstration that allegedly resulted in the dispersal of the protesters.
The union would want to set record straight that it has, over the years, been enjoying a good working relationship with the state police command and expect that the collaboration is sustained