A group, Young Citizens of Nigeria, has asked the Imo State Government to reexamine the basis for the indefinite suspension of journalist, Vivian Ottih.
This was contained in a statement by its Director of Media and Publicity, Augustine Nwaobi, which was signed by Chairman, Comrade Ekene Okonkwo.
In the statement, YCN advised the administration of Governor Hope Uzodinma to thread cautiously on issues of public importance, adding that the suspension of the chairperson of Nigeria Association of Women Journalists over the request for the payment of three months salaries was totally bad for the image of the state.
Recall that the Imo Government had suspended Mrs Ottih indefinitely for using Facebook to request for her salary after an official report claimed that her action was an “embarrassment” to the government.
FLASH: Imo Government Suspends Broadcaster For Complaining of Non-payment of Her Salaries and Her Colleagues, Government Says She’s Not Remorseful pic.twitter.com/roQm4Mw1t2
— Sahara Reporters (@SaharaReporters) May 15, 2020
The statement reads, “We consider it rather antithetical for the government of Uzodinma that had enjoyed massive media support to clampdown on a senior editor of commendable records.
“Imo governor should know that his decision to stop the work of the NAWOJ chairperson is an attack on every journalist in the state, by extention, it’s a confrontation against the entire media industry, probably aimed at silencing members of the fourth estate of the realm.
“We therefore call on the governor to address the issue raised amicably in a way that will foster the delivery of free press. He should know that a matter that affects a journalist anywhere in the world is of global concern, hence the need to manage it with wisdom, and not the recalcitrant haste that greeted the Ottih’s demand.
“Before the issue begins generating negative reactions worldwide, we urge Imo governor to do the needful by cancelling the indefinite suspension previously slammed on Vivian Ottih. The governor should understand that as a senior editor, the chairperson was instinctively mandated to speak for NAWOJ and shouldn’t be punished for being a good leader.”
