LAGOS AUGUST 10TH (URHOBOTODAY)-The Muhammadu Buhari’s administration’s war with the media may soon take a sinister twist as the office of the National Security Adviser, NSA, the chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, and the Director General of the Department of State Security, DSS, may have been mandated to compile a list of ” hostile media”
The last time such came up was during the Umar Musa Yar’Adua, when a list was compiled of the hostile online media and handed to security operatives at all the Airports in Nigeria.
Pointblanknews.com gathered that they have been asked to use the very obnoxious ” Cyber Security Act” to hunt down those viewed as hostile. It was gathered that top operatives who grilled Femi Fani-Kayode while he was in the custody of the EFCC branded Pointblanknews.com as a hostile media
According to sources close to Fani-Kayode, during interrogation he was asked to explain his ‘relationship’ with some media outfit especially the digital ones.
Said the source ” He was asked repeatedly to explain his relationship with Pointblanknews.com, which they branded as hostile. The Abusidiqu publisher who was picked up few days ago was also listed as a member of that group
even when all knew he was pro Buhari/APC”
The source added ” Fani-Kayode told them he wrote for few of the digital media, and that he was not a sponsor of any of the online portals, they mentioned names of those who run some of these online media outfits which means, they have a list of these guys and most likely the list is at the
airport.”
The source stated that they had specifically mentioned Jackson Ude and Churchill Umoren and demanded to know who are the sponsors of Pointblanknews.com.
It was further learnt that, in the next few weeks more members of the digital media would be picked up and charged with Cyber stalking.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Monday, arrested Abubakar Sidiq Usman?, a blogger/citizen journalist over alleged cybercrimes.
The arrest was contained in a statement issued by EFCC spokesman Wilson Uwujaren.
The statement said, Usman was arrested ??for offences bordering on cyber stalking.
Uwujaren said that ?the suspect, who is the publisher of ?Abusidiqu.com, was picked up at his Kubwa, Abuja home in the early hours of Monday August 8, 2016 by operatives of the EFCC.
He said Usman is currently being questioned over the alleged offence, which contravenes sections of the Cyber Crime Act.
Uwujaren ? stated further,” the suspect has already been offered administrative bail and would be released to his elected sureties.”
Abubakar Sidiq Usman`s arrest has been widely condemned in the social media with #FreeAbusidiq hash tag being used to demand for his trending on twitter.
POINTBLANKNEWS