Former
President Goodluck Jonathan has again denied allegations that he is sponsoring
the Niger Delta Avengers.
He
added that the allegation was being sponsored by those who were intimidated by
his rising profile in Nigeria and abroad.
The
former President said this in a statement by his spokesman, Mr. Ikechukwu Eze,
on Thursday.
There
had been publications that the Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government had
begun probing Jonathan over alleged link to the Niger Delta Avengers.
The
statement, however, said, “It is sad that the publications wore the cloak of
deceit from the same misguided characters that are hell-bent on pulling down
the former President despite his clear record of diligent service to his
country and long-standing commitment to the good of the society.
“There
is no doubt that there exists such people who may have scores to settle with
the former President, but are now feeling frustrated by the fact that his
national and international profiles have continued to rise despite their
recourse to endless muck-raking character assassination. Such people will stop
at nothing to continue to throw obstacles, albeit futilely, on his path.
“We
are aware that the same people approached other well-meaning newspapers with
the same false information, but they were wise to turn it down on account of
its absurdity.”
Jonathan
advised the media to be professional and do more of investigative reporting
instead of making reference to allegations of aggrieved militants.
He
said no responsible security agency would release such falsehood to the press.
The
statement added, “From what we know about intelligence gathering, there is no
responsible government agency that would rush, as claimed in the newspaper
stories, to adopt the accusations of a questionable rebellious organisation as
its own findings, without applying the professional processes of rigour and due
diligence.
“Our
media houses should be careful not to make the country a laughing stock by
being hoodwinked into passing off the perverted voices of irritant groups as
that of our well-respected official and security authorities.”
The
ex-President said newspapers promoting spurious allegations against him were
toying with libel and destroying the image of Nigeria.
“Apart
from toying with the serious issue of libel, those newspapers lending
themselves to be cheaply used by miscreants are also doing gross disservice to
our collective good and the image of the country,” he said.
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Politics