... Why Agba Jalingo Should Be Picked Up For Questioning
OPINION: Dangers Of Misinformation And Sensationalism In Media Practice By By Abdulkadri
A few days back, the Social Media was awash with a very ugly trending video clip of an incident which took place at Calabar, Cross River State. In the video, a grown woman, a National Youth Service Corp member, identified as Ezeiruaku Ifeyinwa Fidelia, was, forced to kneel down by a female Army officer identified as Lieutenant Chika Anele who then proceeded to scoop dirty water from a plastic container with a plastic bowl, and pour the water on Youth Corper Ezeiruaku. This sad, incident took place at the 13 Brigade Calabar, Cross River State.
Expectedly, the video generated wide-spread condemnation and anger for the conduct of the female officer and the shameful treatment of the female corper. In the time the video has trended and this minute, so much has been said and written about the issue, with a majority calling for the head of the young female officer - and rightfully so. However, the revelations made by Ms Fidelia on her arrival to Lagos, presents an interesting insight into the matter, and calls for concerted scrutiny of this issue, from a different, impassioned perspective - The role of Misinformation and Fake News in this whole saga.
It should be noted that this write-up makes no attempt to excuse Chika Anele's conduct but to present the assertions by Fidelia alongside earlier claims by now trending activitist, Agba Jalingo when the matter broke fee days ago.
Now, the Corps Member at the center of the drama Ifeyinwa Fidelia, finally broken her silence on her ordeal, in a video which seems to have been made on her arrival to Lagos - Yes, she requested, and has been relocated to Lagos.
As stated earlier, Chika Viola Anele was caught on camera punishing the Corp member over an alleged argument and the viral video generated wide-spread condemnation for the officer involved and indeed for the Nigerian Army, but the Army through it's Public Relations Director, Brigadier General Nwachukwu, responded swiftly to quickly douse the already brewing tension.
There were however reports credited to the blogger who broke the story, Agba Jalingo and his cohorts, Firsts Baba Isa and Cross River Watch on Facebook, that Ifeyinwa was abducted harrassed and intimated by the military, while her phone was also seized.
At the time, these claims added further tension to the already charged online media space as many on the social media space vented their anger and frustration at the female officer and the Army, some even threatening the life of the officer, amongst other vile comments.
However, in this new video, Ms Ifeyinwa has now come out to say affirmatively that the military never threatened, harrassed or intimated her into silence while she was in Calabar. She disclosed this in the video which is currently trending online and has been uploaded alongside this write-up.
According to her, the military officers in Calabar were in fact, actually furious with the conduct of their colleague and at no time, harrassed or intimated her in any form or manner. She also stated that she was okay with whatever punishment the military would mete out to the erring Lt. Chika.
These assertions further corroborate statements credited to Ohanaeze and others, commending the conduct of the brigade commander in Calabar and the military authorities at Abuja for the way they have gone about handling the issue.
For those not aware, it is also important to note that the matter happened earlier in July and was already being handled by the military authorities before the video clip went viral.
As such, this new disclosure by Ifeyinwa has now thrown open a new set of questions, and a look at the issue from a different impassioned perspective.
1. Now that Ifeyinwa has come out to clear the air, why is Agba Jalingo still bent on tarnishing the image of Lt Anele further by splashing her pictures and her recent history all over Facebook ? To what end does Mr. Jalingo wish to cry more than the bereaved in this case?
2. What was the motive of Agba Jalingo and his cohorts Firsts Baba Isa and Cross River Watch in claiming that Ifeyinwa was abducted by the NYSC authorities "who are also soldiers" and had her phone seized ? Seeing that Ifeyinwa herself has debunked those claims ?
3. Could it be that there is more to this story than meets the eye? Could this be a case of blackmail ? Seeing that the matter happened in July and was already being addressed by the relevant military authorities ?
On behalf of all patriotic Nigerian Youths, we wish to call on the relevant security agencies to pick up Agba Jalingo for questioning to explain his own side of this episode ? After all, as stated earlier, the matter happened in July, but Agba and his cohorts uploaded this video again in September because, according to them ,"the military authorities in Calabar were trying to cover up the matter"
We equally call on the military authorities to properly investigate this matter to a logical conclusion. The erring officer should face appropriate sanctions in line with the laid down military laws. We have no doubt in the ability and competence of the present Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Faruk Yahaya to do just that.
We also call on Nigeria Union of Journalists and Online Media Practitioners Council of Nigeria to sanction the
Ghost media "Cross River Watch" for sensational andfalse reporting, as well as misinformation through these spurious claims made by Jalingo on abduction of the Corps member etc.
It smacks of mischief and an effort to gain cheap Publicity for Mr Jalingo to take advantage of Fidelia's ordeal to boost his online profile as his fanbase seems to be growing by the minute following his "heroic" performance in the whole saga. As campaigners for good governance, end to terrorism and other vices, we are fully in support of the #justiceforifeyinwa movement. We are however of the opinion that things should be rightly and correctly.
Taking advantage of the prevailing situation at the time to sow falsehood is wrong and should be condemned. Ifeyinwa was never kept against her wish, coerced or intimidated into silence as Jalingo and his misguided cohorts would want you to believe. She said that much by herself, and it is on record.
Abdulkadri Egba-Nomas is Spokesman Youths Against Terrorism and Banditry Network (YATAB)
