From SADIQ ABUBAKAR, Maiduguri –
Yobe State Governor, Hon. Mai Mala Buni, has denied social media reports alleging that about 155 people died of COVID-19 in the state.
Governor Buni’s reaction is contained in a statement issued in Damaturu on Wednesday by his Director-General, Press Affairs & Media, Mallam Mamman Mohammed in which he described the reports as mere baseless and unfounded allegations calculated at smearing the image of the government and the state.
The Statement reads:
“It is now obvious that the Online publication has a hidden mission to deliberately cause disaffection between the government and good people of Yobe state through serial lies, baseless concoctions, mischievous and ridiculous fabrications.”
“Just recently, the same online medium published a feebled and inexcusable figment of its imagination condemning vehicles purchased by the state government for traditional rulers, alleging that schools were left unattended without any evidence of coming near to Yobe state.
“It is most disgusting, misleading, completely inaccurate and professionally reckless to manufacture figures and dish them out for public consumption without any authoritative source either from the hospitals, police, relatives of deceased persons or even Cemetry attendants.
“Similarly, the claim that His Excellency Hon. Mai Mala Buni was out of the state when his people are dying, was a deliberate lie orchestrated to give the governor a bad name.
“For the records, since the report on the outbreak of the Coronavirus Pandemic in Nigeria about two months ago, His Excellency Governor Mai Mala Buni was only in Abuja for just three days on the invitation of President Muhammadu Buhari to discuss security issues. He had remained in the state with his people supervising preventive measures to curb the spread of the scourge.
“As a government, we challenged Sahara Reporters to come to Yobe state and visit our schools and see the transformations that have taken place under the state of emergency declared on the education sector by Governor Mai Mala Buni.
“We equally challenged Sahara Reporters on its unprofessional and unethical modus operandi where unsubstantiated stories are written without attribution to sources in all its publications against the state. The basic rule of fair hearing and balancing seem to be alien to the Sahara Reporters journalism.
“If outright blackmail remains the only style of its journalism, this administration will not succumb to cheap blackmail and will remain focused to its mandate of serving the people better.
“It is also glaring that Sahara Reporters has unfortunately taken the path of junk journalism and is already being judged negatively in the people’s court as evidenced by comments from people of the state and those who follow events in the state.”
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