Two Nigerian journalists, Fejiro Oliver and Desmond Ike-Chima, publishers of Secret Reporters and ENigeria Newspaper, have accused Abdul Samad Rabiu-led BUA Group of blackmail and sponsoring a false media campaign against them.
According to the journalists, BUA Group is behind an alleged skewed narrative being circulated in a section of the media with the intention of tarnishing their hard-earned reputation and deceiving the discerning public.
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This was after a detailed investigative report published on their news platforms, Secret Reporters and ENigeria Newspaper, which went viral, revealed the involvement of BUA Group, under the watch of Rabiu, in alleged forex dealings with the Central Bank of Nigeria while the now-ousted former Governor, Godwin Emefiele, was at the helm of the bank.
According to Oliver and Ike-Chima, the report, which featured dates and account numbers when the transactions were carried out, rattled the management of BUA, who, in a frantic move to save face, resorted to cheap blackmail tactics.
A press statement signed by the journalists reads, “It has come to our collective attention that a campaign of calumny, falsehood, and deliberate manipulation of truth is being spearheaded and circulated by Abdul Samad Rabiu-led BUA Group in a carefully choreographed half-truth rebuttal to achieve a skewed narrative to deceive the discerning public and also to tarnish innocent and hardworking investigative journalists.
“Curiously, the reference to BUA’s forex activities published in selected dailies does not represent the entire picture, as it was only a smokescreen to further obfuscate the matter.
“Typically, we would have remained mute and not dignified them with a response on this issue since we have solid evidence to back our report; importantly too, the trove of documents within our arsenal reeks of stench as our next publications would reveal, but these are precarious times when silence is classed as acquiescence; uninteresting times when dogs eat fellow dogs.
“Consequently, it is pertinent to state that Abdul Samad Rabiu-led BUA Group has failed to address the crux of the matter, and rather than resort to name-calling and blackmail as a way of avoiding the underlying issue raised in our report, we challenge them to come clean as we will never be cowed into silence by any individual(s) or corporations in whatever guise they come.
“Conclusively, we make bold to say that we are not interested in trafficking in a conversation to nowhere, as the auspicious appointment of Mr. Osayande Obazee-led investigation into the operations of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) over the years will reveal a Pandora’s box of financial sleaze involving BUA and other corporations that have shortchanged the Nigerian economy.
“And for the avoidance of doubt, we stand by our story.”
Ojelabi, the publisher of Freelanews, is an award winning and professionally trained mass communicator and a recipient of the D9112 Superstar Icon Award, who writes ruthlessly about pop culture, religion, politics and entertainment.
