*As Miyetti Allah disowns Premium Times, The Nation’s reports
*Says “We did not describe Plateau killings as retaliatory”
*Premium Times management admits fault, apologises
*Now the PDP, Obasanjo coalition, Afenifere cries can rest – Respondent
*Asks, ‘Will PUNCH, The Nation also apologise or planning fresh falsehood?’
*“Where now is justification for declaring Miyetti Allah terrorists”
*Unfortunate, Church leaders, like Okogie, Afenifere, PDP, others still act on these false news in stead of joining government in professing solution – Concerned Citizens
Although the management of Premium Times has apologized over its falsehood reportage and damages it has caused the Hausa/Fulani race of the Nigerian nation as a result of the above, a Fulani leader who called The DEFENDER from Kano Friday night asked, “If Premium Times has apologized, when will Punch, The Nations and others apologise and what remedy will their apology do to the already damaged image they have once again caused the Fulani?” He asked, adding that, “I am sure Punch would have gone under now not because it feels defeated but because it wants to go and plot with its sponsors how they will carry out evil reporting in the land.”
The much complained against hypocritical media hype of conflict situations in Nigeria, especially when it comes issues between tribes and religious groups, has finally come to the open with the Premium Times management admitting and apologizing it goofed over its false report claiming that the apex cattle breeders’ organisation, Miyetti Allah, said the killings of over 100 people in Barkin Ladi Local Government, Plateau State, last week was retaliatory for its cows that were killed.
Miyetti Allah on Friday distanced itself from reports that it justified the Plateau killings, which many even before the denouncing statement of the apex cattle breeders’ organisation had denied to be one of the ways the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN)-influenced Nigerian Press misrepresent facts of situation, especially in time of crisis, to hang whoever or whichever tribe or religion they consider enemy of their sponsors.
Mr. Femi Adesina, only recently on Arise TV cable network, had said that the Plateau killings were orchestrated and sponsored by political opposition who thought by doing that they would weaken the Muhammadu Buhari Administration to forge ahead in his resolve to rescue Nigeria and his innocent citizens from the hands of the wicked who for years have held the country people in hostage without help.
The DEFENDER had reported the reactions of many respondents in this regards saying the role of Nigerian Press in how the nation has been enmeshed in chaos particularly now as if the current government of President Muhammadu Buhari is doing nothing about security cannot be overemphasized.
Only wall on Thursday, a social media activist, Prince Ade, had cautioned over the way Afenire working on Olusegun Obasanjo’s propaganda are helping spread fake news painting the Plateau killings like that of Benue as Buhari-backed Fulani herdsmen ethnic cleansing and the Prince blamed the hype of the latest killings as yet another face of hypocrisy of the Nigerian Press.
The Miyetti Allah’s leader in the North Central, Alhaji Danladi Ciroma, was reported, by many of the media of like minds in the “evil journalism”, as saying the Barkin Ladi killings were a retaliation of previous acts of deadly aggression against Fulani residents and pastoralists in the state.
“These attacks are retaliatory. As much as I don’t support the killing of human being, the truth must be told that those who carried out the attacks must be on revenge mission,” Mr Ciroma was quoted as saying in a statement June 25. “Fulani herdsmen have lost about 300 cows in the last few weeks – 94 cows were rustled by armed Berom youths in Fan village, another 36 cows were killed by Berom youths. In addition to that, 174 cattle were rustled.”
PREMIUM TIMES published the alleged statement, and followed by The Nation, expectedly Punch, others, (excluding The DEFENDER), which was the first to be attributed to Miyetti Allah in the wake of the frightening massacre.
But Alhaji Ciroma has now strongly protested the quotes credited to him in a follow-up conversation with Premium Times, and there appears to be no documented evidence to counter his rebuttal.
Multiple accounts said the killings occurred between the afternoon of June 23 and the early hours of June 25 in several communities in Barkin Ladi Local Government Area, about 50 kilometres south of Jos, the state capital. About 100 have been confirmed killed by the police. The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), which has been blamed particularly by Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) and other national interest groups in the country for many misrepresentations of crisis in the country and which the Christian-dominated Nigerian Press have always believed even while they have taken the Emir of Kano Muhammadu Sanusi II for a liar over the same “herdsmen” imbroglio, said its findings revealed at least 218 were killed as at June 27.
As a result of the false reportage against Ciroma, demands had intensified for President Buhari to order a full-scale crackdown on Miyetti Allah claiming that the Alhaji Ciroma’s comments of retaliation were enough to declare Miyetti Allah a terrorist group and proscribe it like separatist Indigenous Peoples of Biafra in South East Nigeria.
The DEFENDER, looking deeper into the demands particularly when those making same quickly based it on “how IPOB in South East Nigeria” was proscribed, gathered that the more it became clear that those who sponsored the killings in the affected areas even beyond Plateau to Benue and Taraba may have perfected their script about planning, execution and defence in event that they would be detected, “reason they are sponsoring the misguided among the men of journalism community to hang their evil acts on innocent people, all still tagging the President for being a Fulani man,” a respondent insisted under condition of anonymity.
While Ciroma acknowledged speaking with a reporter on Monday in Jos, he insisted that he did not make the statement credited to him. In fact, he said what he told the reporter was the opposite of what was reported.
“I told the reporter that leaders at the local and national levels should come together and resolve this crisis before it is too late,” Ciroma said by telephone Wednesday night, protesting strongly the comments attributed to him by Premium Times.
Although the management of Premium Times has apologized over its falsehood reportage and damages it has caused the Hausa/Fulani race of the Nigerian nation as a result of the above, a Fulani leader who called The DEFENDER from Kano Friday night asked, “If Premium Times has apologized, when will Punch, The Nations and others apologise and what remedy will their apology do to the already damaged image they have once again caused the Fulani?” He asked, adding that, “I am sure Punch would have gone under now not because it feels defeated but because it wants to go and plot with its sponsors how they will carry out evil reporting in the land.”
Unfortunately, The DEFENDER gathered that when the reported falsehood was exposed by the Miyatti Allah leader and even Premium Times has apologised, not even as many of those media who jostled to catch up at the negative reports were as enthusiastic in reporting themselves back to the Nigerians they had misled.
It is therefore concluded by some concerned citizens that “The Nigerian Media have now become a sector one should check more than ten times to believe what they report,” as they said the falsehood they credited to the Miyetti Allah leader, which they are yet to retract except Premium Times, caused the escalation and reprilsal leading to further killings and damages in Jos over the Barkin Ladi killings.
They however wondered that much as the facts of how media’s reports of the Plateau killings are falsely reported, some religious leaders like Cardinal Olubunmi Okogie, former President of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Afenifere leaders, who justified his call for restructuring by the killings, and People’s Democratic Party (PDP) leaders, all known never-loving President Buhari from his pre-election period till present, are still acting on the fakeness.
The Premium Times detailed accounts, apology over misleading news against Miyetti Allah
An internal investigation by PREMIUM TIMES found that there was no recording of any interview in which Mr Ciroma made the statement, neither was any statement signed or circulated by him that contained the quotes.
The error was traced to our outstation reporter based in Jos, whose failure to properly attribute the source of the purported statement by Mr Ciroma misled the editors into believing that it was e-mailed to the reporter.
The reporter filed the story on Monday morning based on ‘a statement’ from Mr Ciroma. But checks by PREMIUM TIMES following Mr Ciroma’s protest on Wednesday afternoon showed that the quotes were lifted from The Nation Newspapers.
The Premium Times apology.
The Nation’s reporter in Plateau State also circulated the quotes in the WhatsApp group of reporters on the government house beat in Jos, telling his colleagues they were the full transcription of his interview with Mr Ciroma.
The reporter later admitted to PREMIUM TIMES that he did not have a recording of his call with Mr Ciroma, but said the quotes mirrored the Miyetti Allah leader’s position on the latest killings in Plateau State.
The Nation published the purported quotes by Mr Ciroma hours before our reporter in Jos lifted it without attribution, thus misleading his editors in Abuja.
PREMIUM TIMES management has initiated an ethics and professional review of the reporter’s work; how it came to be that his sourcing for the story fell below house standards, and how his documentation fails to measure up to expected standards for verification and accuracy.
Even if Mr Ciroma made the purported statement, newsroom managers agreed yesterday, the expectations would be to report it with proper recording or digital footprints, for the simple reason that ethical journalism places the onus on the reporter to document proof of sources’ contribution to a story.
When one of the editors on duty called our reporter to find out how the story was sourced shortly before passing it on Monday morning, he said it was personally sent out by Mr Ciroma. This turned out to be the WhatsApp group broadcast by The Nation reporter, which several other Jos-based print and electronic correspondents sent to their respective media organisations throughout Monday.
Accountability And Remediation
This again brings to fore the limits of a common culture in Nigerian beat reporting where correspondents share stories amongst themselves in the manner of pool reporting. While journalists cannot be at two or more events simultaneously, standards in ethical reporting require reporters to ensure thorough verification of any second-hand information.
PREMIUM TIMES publisher, Dapo Olorunyomi, admitted in a meeting with newsroom senior editors yesterday that the paper was substantially in error with respect to its reporting on Mr. Ciroma’s role in the conflict in Jos. “This is very much below the standards of verification we strive to maintain and for which we have come to earn the trust of our readers. As a first step, we are sending an apology letter to Mr. Ciroma regretting the mischaracterisation of his role, and assuring him that a disciplinary process is currently apace to ensure accountability for the breakdown in our editorial procedures.”
The controversial attribution to Miyetti Allah comes as the media were facing allegations of bias in its coverage of the ongoing killings in the country.
In February, presidential spokesperson, Garba Shehu disparaged the media for its coverage of the killings. PREMIUM TIMES largely restrains from using potentially harmful stereotypes or slurs save for where authoritative references have linked an incident to a group pattern.
