The South West Youth Alliance has described The Supreme News’ stance on police officers posting as jungle journalism, which should not be ignored at all times.
While condemning the anti-media position of the Joe Omokaro-led The Supreme News as unprofessional and unethical conduct against the Inspector General of Police and PSC Chairman, saying the usual practices had tainted the men who have distinguished themselves in the media world.
Responding to a publication in The Supreme News titled “Tribalism in Police: South South, South East Leaders Bicker, Task Tinubu On Equity, “They’re Incompetent’—South” – South West DIG,” the National Coordinator of the SWYA, Taiwo Adegbenga, often wonders why Joe Omokaro, the publisher of The Supreme News, is consistently in the news for questionable behaviour, all while he portrays himself as a saint with claims of integrity that seem to disguise his lack of adherence to professional ethics.
While describing The Supreme News as an “online rag,” he further qualified Omokaro as a troubled soul rather than a social activist whose activities nose-dive between activism and blackmail media.
“In his usual gimmicks against the Nigeria Police Force and the Police Service Commission, he made an unfounded allegation against Police officers posting.
“It is unfortunate that a former failed Governorship candidate of the Labour Party in Enugu State, Chijioke Edeoga, who has not mobilised a single individual into the Force from the South East, could lament the “deliberate marginalisation of his South East kinsmen”.
“We remembered vividly when a DIG was mandated to go to the South-East to ensure that youths from the zone were enlisted in the Police Force, as the number of recruits from the zone was the least in the country; individuals like Chijioke Edeoga were nowhere to be found, Adegbenga said.
To further show the publisher of The Supreme News’s ignorance, he said, “Our Correspondents report that a governor from the South-South and a former governor also from the South-South have been alerted of the marginalisation of CPs from their Zone. Similarly, a governor in the South-East is said to have also been alerted to the marginalisation of police officers from his zone.
“Will the alerted Governors of South-South and South-East support the posting of incompetent Police Commissioners to their respective states?
“The inappropriate conduct displayed by Omokaro cannot be justified or defended by fellow professionals, especially given the questionable nature of his tabloid journalism.
“Omokaro’s sensational publication approach and disregard for factual evidence have become significant issues in Nigerian journalism that must be addressed.
The Alliance further accused The Supreme News and its management of abandoning journalism work and meddling in the administrative jobs of the Nigeria Police Force by publishing false and malicious news against the Police Force to achieve its myopic ideas against the workaholic IGP Kayode Egbetokun and its management team.
“In conclusion, we reiterate our demand for The Supreme News to retract the offending publication and apologise to IGP Kayode Egbetokun and retired DIG Hashimu Argungu without delay.”
“We will continue to monitor the situation and take necessary steps to shield and protect the reputation of IGP Kayode Egbetokun from undeserved antagonism from rogue publications like The Supreme News, the statement said.
