Rrights activist, Mr Morakinyo Ogele, yesterday urged the ruling Labour Party (LP) in Ondo State to stop harassing journalists and private media.
Ogele alleged that there were plans to attack some journalists who the government regarded as “unfriendly”.
The lawyer said if the LP administration was popular among the people, it would not resort to harassing people.
He recalled how Governor Olusegun Mimiko used a private radio station, Adaba FM, to pursue his election petition at the tribunal in 2009, “as if he was the owner”.
Ogele said: “Mimiko used Adaba FM as his megaphone between 2007 and 2009, when he got favourable judgment at the Appeal Court, Benin City, (Edo State), against the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and former Governor Olusegun Agagu.
“He and his party, the LP, were completely shut out by government media, particularly the Ondo Radiovision Corporation (OSRC), during the period and relied solely on Adaba FM.
“However, instead of the governor to be appreciative of the gesture, he ordered that a construction company should dig a gully on the only access road to the media organisation. For many months, the station and its workers were made to suffer unnecessarily.”
The activist said the media should be allowed to carry out their duties without molestation, adding that a popular government would not attack them.
He alleged that at a clandestine meeting held outside the state, some notable government officials planned to punish Adaba FM workers for allegedly being hostile to the government.
The activist also alleged that the LP administration wanted to plant incriminating materials on the station’s premises to enable the government arrest its senior management workers.
He threatened to mobilise the masses against any political office holder that intimidates the radio workers or other journalists.
Ogele urged security agents to be wary of the antics of the Mimiko administration to cause violence ahead of next month’s governorship election.
The lawyer has petitioned the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Alhaji Mohammed Abubakar, over LP’s alleged plan to unleash terror on journalists.
In the September 27 letter, Ogele said the LP had been intimidating the media and opposition parties.
He said: “Some six months ago, the state government directed one of its local contractors to dig a gully on the road leading to Adaba FM. For almost three months, this paralysed its activities while several millions of naira were lost.
“In addition, workers at the station were harassed and intimidated while the General Manager and the station’s Head of News and Current Affairs were summoned by the governor, who warned them to ‘behave’.”
Ogele said series of petitions were sent to the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), which led to the closure of the station for weeks.
The lawyer noted that the fresh onslaught on Adaba FM was to incriminate the GM and other principal officers.
He alleged that a meeting was held on September 26 at the home of a commissioner, adding that an arrangement was concluded that large quantities of arms should be deposited on the station’s premises.
Ogele said: “The intimidation against the radio station has been extended to correspondents of The Nation, Peoples’ News, Daily Independent, among others.”
The lawyer also criticised the daily attacks on supporters of ACN governorship candidate Oluwarotimi Akeredolu and those of the PDP’s Olusola Oke.
He urged the police chief to transfer the police commissioner for his alleged inability to provide “unbiased” security for the residents.
Ogele also called for tight security for the radio station and its workers.
