Date Published: 03/22/11

The Lies of Jimoh Ibrahim and Ondo PDP

The Ondo State Government condemns in its entirety the report of the propaganda machine of the Peoples Democratic Party in Ondo State, the National Mirror on the alleged kidnap, by persons unknown, of the mother of Mr. Jimoh Ibrahim, the newspaper’s publisher.

In a statement yesterday, the State Commissioner for Information, Mr. Ranti Akerele, said the report “smacks of irresponsibility, insensitivity, journalistic perfidy and falsehood templated on a tiny strand of truth and emotion. The entire report taxes the limit of the freedom of information and the liberty of the press.”

He said: “the kidnap either of a commoner or the mother of an affluent moneybag ought to be a sober and reflective reality. It ought to be handled with all the necessary caution and care for the security of both the kidnapped and the society at large. For a supposed paper, hiding under the cover of non-existent ‘stakeholders,’ to want to politicise a kidnap, such as irresponsibly as National Mirror tried to, deserves nothing but national condemnation and opprobrium.“That the broken National Mirror cannot truly reflect the societal picture and refrain from playing to the gallery triggers a feeling of suspicion in us that security agencies need not look too far in other to fish out the alleged kidnappers. Desperate situations, we all know have been latched on to in the past to take desperate if not insane actions.

“If a beneficiary of the kindness and love of one earlier victim could organise and mastermind the kidnap of his benefactor, who says desperate political rookies like those behind the National Mirror and its Monday, March 21, 2011, cannot plan and execute the kidnap of a poor old woman so as to create a band of fathom stakeholders whose only tangible solution to a kidnap is to call for a state of emergency in Ondo State.

 From reliable stories available to government the poor mother of Chief Jimoh Ibrahim who is a mat seller, was allegedly tricked out of  her home on pretence that they were customers who wanted to buy mats from her.  

“With all the powers at the disposal of the peace-loving government of Ondo State,  issues of security have been pursued with unprecedented focus since April 2009 such that in all the reported cases of kidnap, not only have the victims been safely returned to their loved ones but the culprits have been apprehended to the eternal shame of those who cry wolf where there were none. More than this, the era of wanton violence and lawlessness as witnessed under the PDP has become a thing of the past

“We therefore feel strongly that the National Mirror with its relentless war against the peace of the State for cheap and unrealisable political ends ought to have been circumspect rather than reckless in reporting the alleged kidnap. If the world is to be viewed from the shattered reflections of National Mirror and those leading the irresponsible campaign against reason and common sense, then a no-fly zone ought to have been imposed over the Niger Delta, the Jos Plateau , Borno, and indeed all other places where crimes with larger security consequences have happened in this country since the advent of the civilian era.

“Let no one be deceived, there is no tension in Ondo State, except maybe in the camp of the PDP whose member and rabid opponent of the Mimiko government, one Sola Akinuli, authored the satanic report. We say this because the said emergency reporter has consistently through a now dead local rag and then National Mirror, since its over hyped re-emergence, been spinning tales by moonlight all in the bid to portray the new Ondo State as a place of violence. We know that the correspondent of National Mirror in Ondo State recently threw in the towel, obviously after having his fill of the chicane absurdities of the paper and its misdirected patrons.

“Just yesterday, the ruling Labour Party had a Mega rally in Ore, forty five minutes away from Jimoh Ibrahim’s town and there was not a single shot, machete or knife. No one was assaulted and no one was molested. Not even when the Governor visited the Ore Agricultural Village, which is closer to Osooro, the location of Ibrahim’s country home.

“We leave the story of “pervasive insecurity” to the police and other security agencies whose job we are sure it is to write the true report and make the correct deductions. We are however unapologetic in our conclusion that the Police and other agencies should begin investigation into the ‘alleged kidnap’ of Jimoh Ibrahim’s mother from Sola Akinuli, the National Mirror and their patrons. We sympathise with the Group Managing Director of Global Fleet and Publisher of National Mirror, billionaire business-mogul-cum-politician,  Mr. Jimoh Ibrahim and the entire Jimoh family.

“It is good that the IGP has swung into action in respect of the reported kidnap as reported by National Mirror. We can only pray that God will give members of the Jimoh family and indeed all of us in Ondo State , the discerning spirit to know who wants this State thrown into violence and tension. We also ask Nigerians to pray fervently for the release of the poor old woman.”