Re: Disappointing unprofessional Reportage of Financial Times on IPOB
The leadership of the Indigenous People of Biafra is appalled at the hopelessly, degenerative and unprofessional news reporting strategy of an institution like the Financial Times of London which goes contrary to the ethics of investigative professional journalism expected of them. The current misleading headline on IPOB titled: ‘Echoes of Biafra war as Nigeria looks to polls’, is a case in hand.
From the report, it was obvious that there are deliberate and noticeable misrepresentations evidenced in their over reliance on fake or unverified information from third parties and Nigerian government in particular. Given the sensitivities surrounding the clamor for Biafra independence led Mazi Nnamdi Kanu’s IPOB and the heavy handedness of the Buhari regime widely documented by reputable global human rights organisations, it would have been prudent for an institution like the Financial Times to report the facts accurately rather than regurgitating the script handed to them by Lai Mohammed Information Minister for Nigeria.
This unprofessional conduct calls for holistic review on the part of the proprietors of the Financial Times. It is our position that had a reputable media organisation like Financial Times embarked on investigating their sources of information before hand, they would have been well-informed of the fact that IPOB is non-violent in their quest for restoration of Biafra. Does it mean that the editors of Financial Times did not see and in fact know that Nnamdi Kanu is not in hiding but instead was taken away by the army when they stormed his home and killed 28 people? Did they not see the bullet riddled house and damage done to his family home? Are they not aware of the existence of a video taped interview clearly showing the Defence Minister of Nigeria Mansur Dan Ali admitting that they sent soldiers to Kanu’s home?
Where went the conscience of the highly revered editors of this reputable publishing giant before they authorised this misleading report? Although, we are aware that Financial Times is under intense and sustained pressure from powerful UK based lobbyists, laundering Nigeria’s image to distort and twist every news on Biafra to their advantage, we call on the editors of Financial Tines to act responsibly now by retracting their wholly misleading and unprofessional report of the status of IPOB and her leader.
We remind them that all these information that we have pointed out to them are publicly available and as a consequence demand that they rectify the monumental errors of omission and misrepresentations in their report. Otherwise, we can only firmly conclude that they have joined the league of ‘fake news’ club to prop up the battered image of a brutal dictator in the person of Muhammadu Buhari.
COMRADE EMMA POWERFUL MEDIA AND PUBLICITY SECRETARY FOR IPOB.
