The Association of Ebonyi State Indigenes in Diaspora has decried the ban of two journalists for life by Governor Dave Umahi of Ebonyi State from covering the state government activities.
The association’s Chairman, Pascal Oluchukwu, said this in a statement in Abuja on Thursday.
He said the decision breached the journalists’ Constitutional rights.
Oluchukwu was reacting to the eviction of Correspondents of the Sun Newspapers, Chijioke Agwu, and the Vanguard Newspapers, Peter Okutu, from covering activities of the Ebonyi State Government House.
Umahi had on Wednesday announced the ban of Agwu and Okutu over alleged fake news capable of causing panic among Ebonyi people in the state.
Oluchukwu described the decision as “dictatorial in a democratic system of government”.
According to him, the Ebonyi State Governor breached the Constitutional rights of journalists to cover government’s activities and hold it accountable for such activities.
He said: “We, the Ebonyi State indigenes, however, apologise to the two journalists, their organisations and the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) for the embarrassing act of our governor.
“Ebonyi State needs to be rescued from the hands of the current handlers, hence, the need for more investigative reporting into the activities of the current state government.
“We appeal to journalists not to be deterred, because without critical journalism in a democracy, some actors might likely act like dictators.”
