Fake news: Immigration gives 14 days ultimatum to online medium

By Stanley Onyekwere

The Comptroller General of the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS), Muhammad Babandede, has written to an online medium, Aledeh.com over alleged false and malicious publication.
In a letter dated October 11, 2017, the NIS boss through his lawyer, Mr. Ahmed Raji, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, the publisher of Aledeh.com, Suleiman Aledeh and one Ayomide Ayono, were given 14 days to retract the said malicious publication.
In the publication by the online, written by Suleiman Aledeh, a former presenter with CHANNELS Television and now with Arise TV, he alleged that most special promotions in the NIS are purchased and not merited.
It also said in the report that most officers get promoted in the Nigerian Immigration after paying N500,000 or N1 million for such promotion.
He also said in the report, “Aledeh gathered that some Nigerians pay as much asN50,000 to N100,000 to get the Nigerian passport.
“This sleaze is a hurricane that sweeps across all NIS offices across the nation, Aledeh report in our exclusive”.
But Mr. Raji, said in his reaction to the report on behalf of his client, “In effect, you have maliciously misrepresented our client in publicglare by deliberately infusing false, dishonest and untrue assertions abouthim into the minds of riight thinking. Members of the society.
“More worrisome is the fact that u were conscious of this false story, in consequence of which u systematically and intentionally failed to admit yourself to caution but resolved to pollute the media stream for unsuspecting persons drink of this fabrication which was actuated.
“Without mincing words, you have disparaged our clients by your remarks, in the eyes of right thinking members of the society; and these remarks have been found to be false and slanderous of him..
“It is imperative to bear in mind that you have 14 days from the receipt of this letter to comply with the highlighted mitigating measure, the failure of which will leave our client with no preferred alternative than to seek redress in court; the said redress which shall also include a claim that you are unfit to function as a journalist, because your defamatory and slanderous remark were borne out of an inept appreciation basic codes of journalism”.