• Home
  • Anti-Corruption
  • Fact-Check
  • Economy
  • National
    • Government
  • Security
  • Features
  • State
  • Event
    • PR Nigeria Award
  • E-Paper
Search
  • Home
  • About
  • Adverts
  • Contact
Sign in
Welcome! Log into your account
Forgot your password? Get help
Password recovery
Recover your password
A password will be e-mailed to you.
PRNIGERIA PRNigeria News
PRNIGERIA PRNIGERIA
  • Home
  • Anti-Corruption
    • ICPC Secures Conviction of Rector for Running Unaccredited Degree Programmes

      Engr Abba Babagana Dalori

      Engr Dalori Forfeits Galaxy Hospital, Petrol Station, Properties & Cash

      Chinese nationals jailed in Lagos

      Court Jails Nine Chinese Nationals for Cybercrime in Lagos

      ASUU

      Tackle Corruption, Institutional Decay – ASUU Charges FG

      EFCC Arraigns Bauchi Accountant General Over N8bn Fraud as Court Sentences…

  • Fact-Check
  • Economy
    • Customs Partners US Mission to Prevent Expanded Visa Ban

      Nigeria Customs Partners China on Smarter Ports, Officer Training, Reforms

      Comptroller General Nigerian Customs Bashir Adewale

      Customs Moves Against 223 Importers in N379bn Permit Breach

      Bashir Adewale Adeniyi Customs Boss

      How Customs is Tightening Borders to Stop Illicit Cash Flows –…

      Customs boss, CGC Bashir Adewale Adeniyi with NAFDAC DG Professor Moji Adeyeye

      Codeine, Tramadol Worth ₦20.5bn Seized as Customs-NAFDAC Cooperation Deepens

  • National
    • Army Commander keeps 100 students in school

      Army Commander’s Compassion Keeps 100 Students in School in Zamfara

      Sam Obi Sponsors 500 students

      Sam Obi Sponsors 500 Students in Evergreen, SimplifiedIQ’s Education Program

      CG Customs Bashir Adewale Adeniyi

      NIPR Hails customs Boss’ Tenure Extension as Evidence of Transformational Leadership

      Comptroller General Customs Bashir Adewale and his staffs with the representatives of the European Union, the German Embassy

      Customs Unveils Renewable Energy Handbook, Strengthens EU-Germany-GIZ Partnership

      University of Maiduguri

      UNIMAID Mass Comm becomes Faculty of Communication and Media Studies

    • Government
      • Northern leaders at Arewa Summit

        Northern Leaders Urge Action on Almajiri Crisis, Equitable Resources at Arewa…

        Saidu Ahmed Alkali,

        Kaduna-Kano Light Rail Underway as FG Targets ₦70bn Investment

        Beyond Hoes and Sticks: The Power of Education for Peace in…

        National Blood Service Agency

        FG Pledges Stronger Support for Blood Services, Seeks Scalable Interventions from…

        Tinubu’s Government Unveils Multi-Sectoral Initiatives to Boost Northern Region’s Development

  • Security
    • Nigerian Navy

      Navy to Establish  Base in Kebbi to Tackle Inland Waterway Crimes

      Army Commander keeps 100 students in school

      Army Commander’s Compassion Keeps 100 Students in School in Zamfara

      Chief of the Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Hasan Abubakar, receiving the land document from Governor Pastor Umo Bassey Eno in Akwa Ibom

      Akwa Ibom Boosts National Security with Land Donation for Nigerian Air…

      Military Troops in Action

      Army Troops, DSS Nab Arms Trafficker in Taraba, Recover Ammunition, Cash

      Inspector-General of Police Kayode Adeolu Egbetokun

      IG Reaffirms Commitment to Tackling Oil Theft, Upholding Human Rights

  • Features
    • Okello Oculi

      Okello Oculi: A Pan-Africanist Asteroid Burns out Forever By Is’haq Modibbo…

      Leon Usigbe

      Death, you can’t be Proud of this By Abdulrahman Abdulraheem 

      Tinubu’s Plateau Gambit – Yilwatda, 2027, and the Return of the…

      Ozumi and a recipient of a wheelchair

      Wheels of Hope: How a Simple Gift is Reshaping Lives at…

      Late Ex-President Muhammadu Buhari and Mansur Liman

      “Buhari: A Blunt, Honest Leader Who Laughed at His Own Predicament”

  • State
    • court Judiciary

      Lawyer Sues Housing Ministry, FHA Over Alleged Property Redesign

      Army Commander keeps 100 students in school

      Army Commander’s Compassion Keeps 100 Students in School in Zamfara

      Chief of the Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Hasan Abubakar, receiving the land document from Governor Pastor Umo Bassey Eno in Akwa Ibom

      Akwa Ibom Boosts National Security with Land Donation for Nigerian Air…

      Nigerian Army

      Army Denies Allegations of Misconduct in Imo Community

      Military Troops in Action

      Troops Repel Bandit Attacks in Katsina, Plateau, Recover Rustled Cattle, Sustain…

  • Event
    • court Judiciary

      Lawyer Sues Housing Ministry, FHA Over Alleged Property Redesign

      Sam Obi Sponsors 500 students

      Sam Obi Sponsors 500 Students in Evergreen, SimplifiedIQ’s Education Program

      Comptroller General Customs Bashir Adewale and his staffs with the representatives of the European Union, the German Embassy

      Customs Unveils Renewable Energy Handbook, Strengthens EU-Germany-GIZ Partnership

      University of Maiduguri

      UNIMAID Mass Comm becomes Faculty of Communication and Media Studies

      CG Customs Bashir Adewale Adeniyi

      Tinubu’s Extension of Customs CG Bashir Adeniyi’s Tenure Draws Widespread Praise…

    • PR Nigeria Award
  • E-Paper
Home Security Army, Premium Times Engage in War of Words
  • Security

Army, Premium Times Engage in War of Words

By
Nigerian Army, Premium Times
-
January 12, 2017
Nigerian Army and Premium Times

Nigerian Army and Premium Times

Below are the hot exchange of words between the Nigerian Army and Premium Times over Media Coverage of War on Terror- PRNigeria

NIGERIAN ARMY TAKES PREMIUM TIMES TO COURT
The Nigerian Army has instituted a legal action against an online publication, the Premium Times over its failure to retract and apologize over false, subversive and malicious publications against the person of the Chief of Army Staff Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai and the Nigerian Army.

All efforts to make the medium make amend proved abortive.

Consequently, the Nigerian Army sent a letter to the management of the of the online publishers to retract and apologize before 31st December 2016.

The medium however remained adamant and recalcitrant.

Consequently, the Nigerian Army has briefed it’s lawyers to institute legal action against the medium.

You are kindly requested to disseminate this information to the public through your medium.

Thank you for your kind cooperation.

Brigadier General Sani Kukasheka Usman
Director Army Public Relations
…………………………………..
PREMIUM TIMES replies Nigerian Army, demands apology from Buratai, others

PREMIUM TIMES has replied a letter sent by the Nigerian Army, threatening legal action against the newspaper for publications about the army and its chief, Tukur Buratai, a Lieutenant General.

On Wednesday, the newspaper published a letter dated December 22, written on behalf of Mr. Buratai, by I. M Alkali, a Major General, accusing PREMIUM TIMES of “unwarranted serial provocative, unauthorised, libelous and defamatory publications”.

The letter also claimed the paper published reports without reference to the army, saying the stories exposed a “deep hatred for the leadership of the Nigerian Army”.

The letter expressed displeasure with three stories published by the medium between October and December last year. The army described the stories as “false, unsubstantiated, and unprofessional” but provided no evidence to back its claim.

The letter demanded PREMIUM TIMES retract the reports and apologise to the army and Mr. Buratai.

PREMIUM TIMES, on Tuesday, through its lawyers, delivered a detailed response to the Army, affirming its stories, and unequivocally rejecting the demand for retractions and apology.

The paper, instead, asked the army to write a letter within seven days of receiving its reply, withdrawing the allegations and threats against it and its staff, or risk being sued.

Jiti Ogunye, the newspaper’s principal counsel, who signed the response, took the army to task on the “grave implications” of its letter, and describing the army’s letter as a threat to the well-being and life of PREMIUM TIMES’ staff.

“By your letter you have threatened the lives of our clients, and our clients are thus obliged to put the public on notice that should any harm come to them, you, the Chief of Army Staff and the Nigerian Army should be held accountable,” he wrote.

Mr. Ogunye said the “chilling threats” contained in the army’s letter was an affront on the constitutional guarantee of civilian control of the army and the freedom of the press.

“It is our view that all working journalists and news outlets are entitled to some protection from public officers, especially of the military and security agencies who are charged with the duty to secure and protect Nigeria and Nigerians, their lives and property, and maintain law and order, but who often, because of the uniqueness of that duty and for reason of the exclusive bearing of arms and control of our commonly owned ordinance, assume very erroneously that they are above the law,” he said.

He rebuked the army for describing PREMIUM TIMES’ stories as “unprofessional” saying military and other public officials were not in a position to question the paper’s professionalism.

“The penchant of public officers to flippantly, arrogantly and ignorantly label media reports and stories and journalists ‘unprofessional’ once they are affected by media reports and stories must be deprecated with decorous pungency. Sir, you are not in any position at all to teach our Clients media professionalism, ethics and standards,” the paper said.

Read Also:

  • Lawyer Sues Housing Ministry, FHA Over Alleged Property Redesign
  • Navy to Establish  Base in Kebbi to Tackle Inland Waterway Crimes
  • Army Commander’s Compassion Keeps 100 Students in School in Zamfara

“It really can be exasperating and disconcerting to see public officers condescendingly castigate journalists, many of whom are not only internationally acclaimed and celebrated but who also have up to forty years of practice as journalists under their belt,” the letter stated.

Mr. Ogunye also criticised the army’s penchant for claiming exclusivity of patriotism and national sacrifice.

“We must also rebuke the false assumption that our military men, exclusively, are an epitome of patriotism and national sacrifice, and that they love Nigeria more than civilians do.

“Sir, the Nigerian Army of which you spoke so glowingly is an heir to a military that unpatriotically subverted, many times, constitutional governance in Nigeria, plunged Nigeria into a three-year internecine civil war, committed unspeakable rights violations against the Nigerian people and thwarted the efforts of Nigerians to restore democratic governance to Nigeria.

“The Nigerian Media, if you must be reminded, played a frontline role and suffered gross human rights violation, perpetrated by the military, in the struggle to rid Nigeria of military dictatorship. Our clients, therefore, totally reject your claim that they hate Nigeria, their country.

“The Nigerian Army does not love Nigeria more than Nigerians love themselves. An armed force of less than three hundred thousand officers and men cannot claim to love Nigeria, a country of over one hundred and eighty million people, more than the Nigerian civil population.

“Even under the current civil government, the officers and men of the Nigerian Army continue to carry out acts that threaten the survival of democratic governance. The roles played by officers and men of the Nigerian Army in the Ekiti State Governorship Election in 2014; the insertion of the Nigerian Army in the partisan allegation that the WASC School Certificate of our President, Muhammadu Buhari, then a candidate, could not be found in the Nigerian Army’s records during the 2015 electioneering campaigns; the seizure and confiscation of newspapers nationwide during the Presidency of Goodluck Jonathan by men and officers of the Nigerian Army under the guise of looking for terrorist elements; and the recent killings that attended the insistence on right of way by the Nigerian Army against the adherents of the Shiite Islamic Sect in Zaria, in which hundreds of civilians lost their lives, are cases in point.

“A Nigerian Army that carries out such acts that not only violate the human rights of the citizens, but also subvert democracy and the rule of law cannot lay a claim to patriotism superior to the patriotism of the Nigerian media,” he wrote.

He added that the role of the media, as that of the military, is entrenched in the constitution and one is not superior to the other. Mr. Ogunye said by the threats contained in the army’s letter, and by tagging it an enabler of terrorism, PREMIUM TIMES’ constitutionally-given right to practice journalism had been breached or was about to be breached.

“You should know that your wild allegations against our clients implicate the invocation, against our clients, of Section 4 of the Terrorism (Prevention) Act, No. 10,2011, which prescribes a maximum prison term of 20 years for any person convicted of knowingly, in any manner, solicits or renders support for an act of terrorism or a proscribed terrorist organization, and the death penalty where death results from such solicitation or rendering of support. And you should also have realized that your allegations imputed, on the part of our clients, the commission of treasonable offences and aiding the enemy under our criminal law.”

PREMIUM TIMES asked the army to write a letter, addressed to its Publisher, Dapo Olorunyomi, withdrawing the threats and allegations within seven days. The paper warned of legal action to enforce its fundamental rights.

“In the circumstances, we hereby demand that you write a letter of withdrawal of these threats and allegations, to our clients, wherein you are to assure them of their safety and protection by the security and law enforcement agencies in Nigeria, in particular, the Nigerian Army. The letter, to be addressed to Mr. Dapo Olorunyomi, Managing Director of Premium Services Ltd/ Editor in Chief of Premium Times must be received within seven (7) working days of delivery of this letter to you.
“That should you fail, refuse or neglect to write and deliver the above letter as demanded, our clients will not hesitate to institute a legal action against you, your principals, the Nigerian Army and the Federal Government of Nigeria, to enforce their fundamental rights under the Constitution,” the letter stated.

Musikilu Mojeed
Editor-in-Chief/Chief Operating Officer
PREMIUM TIMES

VISIT OUR OTHER WEBSITES
PRNigeria.com EconomicConfidential.com PRNigeria.com/Hausa/
EmergencyDigest.com PoliticsDigest.ng TechDigest.ng
HealthDigest.ng SpokesPersonsdigest.com TeensDigest.ng
ArewaAgenda.com Hausa.ArewaAgenda.com YAShuaib.com
  • TAGS
  • I.M Alkali
  • Muskilu Mojeed
  • nigerian army
  • Premium Times
  • Sani Usman Kukasheka
  • Tukur Buratai
Previous articleLabour Minister Tasks Industries To Source Raw Materials Locally
Next articlePCNI Visits Service Chiefs in Abuja
Nigerian Army, Premium Times
Nigerian Army, Premium Times
https://prnigeria.com
PRNigeria is the pioneer Press Release Distribution agency in Nigeria. A member of image Merchant Promotions limited, PRNigeria encourages individuals and organisations to be more transparent in their information management. with dedicated Editorial staffs, the PRNigeria ensures that information provided on its platforms are timely, factual and authoritative Read more at: //prnigeria.com/about/
Facebook Twitter

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

Nigerian Navy

Navy to Establish  Base in Kebbi to Tackle Inland Waterway Crimes

Army Commander keeps 100 students in school

Army Commander’s Compassion Keeps 100 Students in School in Zamfara

Chief of the Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Hasan Abubakar, receiving the land document from Governor Pastor Umo Bassey Eno in Akwa Ibom

Akwa Ibom Boosts National Security with Land Donation for Nigerian Air Force Base

Military Troops in Action

Army Troops, DSS Nab Arms Trafficker in Taraba, Recover Ammunition, Cash

Inspector-General of Police Kayode Adeolu Egbetokun

IG Reaffirms Commitment to Tackling Oil Theft, Upholding Human Rights

Nigerian Army

Army Denies Allegations of Misconduct in Imo Community

Military Troops in Action

Troops Repel Bandit Attacks in Katsina, Plateau, Recover Rustled Cattle, Sustain Casualties

Nigerian Navy Personnel

Navy Destroys 10 Illegal Refineries in Niger Delta

Military Troops in Action

Troops Kill Bandit, Seize Weapons Cache in Benue Gun Battle

Nigerian Air Force Welcomes 30 New Helicopter Pilots, Commissions Upgraded Facilities

DCG Olumode Samuel Adeyemi

JUST IN: Tinubu Appoints Olumode Adeyemi New CG of Fire Service

Troops Neutralise 6 Terrorists in Coordinated Operations Across Borno, Recover Firearms

LEAVE A REPLY Cancel reply

Log in to leave a comment

Recent Posts

  • Lawyer Sues Housing Ministry, FHA Over Alleged Property Redesign
  • Navy to Establish  Base in Kebbi to Tackle Inland Waterway Crimes
  • Army Commander’s Compassion Keeps 100 Students in School in Zamfara
  • Sam Obi Sponsors 500 Students in Evergreen, SimplifiedIQ’s Education Program
  • NIPR Hails customs Boss’ Tenure Extension as Evidence of Transformational Leadership
  • Home
  • About
  • Adverts
  • Contact
© 2020 PRNigeria. All Rights Reserved.
Latest News
Lawyer Sues Housing Ministry, FHA Over Alleged Property RedesignNavy to Establish  Base in Kebbi to Tackle Inland Waterway CrimesArmy Commander's Compassion Keeps 100 Students in School in ZamfaraSam Obi Sponsors 500 Students in Evergreen, SimplifiedIQ's Education ProgramNIPR Hails customs Boss' Tenure Extension as Evidence of Transformational LeadershipAkwa Ibom Boosts National Security with Land Donation for Nigerian Air Force BaseCustoms Unveils Renewable Energy Handbook, Strengthens EU-Germany-GIZ PartnershipUNIMAID Mass Comm becomes Faculty of Communication and Media StudiesTinubu’s Extension of Customs CG Bashir Adeniyi’s Tenure Draws Widespread Praise and ReactionsArmy Troops, DSS Nab Arms Trafficker in Taraba, Recover Ammunition, CashIG Reaffirms Commitment to Tackling Oil Theft, Upholding Human RightsNorthern Leaders Urge Action on Almajiri Crisis, Equitable Resources at Arewa Summit in KadunaArmy Denies Allegations of Misconduct in Imo CommunityTroops Repel Bandit Attacks in Katsina, Plateau, Recover Rustled Cattle, Sustain CasualtiesNavy Destroys 10 Illegal Refineries in Niger Delta
X whatsapp