The Minister of State for Power, Mr Goddy Jedy-Agba had denied detaining the publisher of Power Steering magazine, Tom Ohia, over the alleged publication of false claims.
In a statement by the Special Assistant to the Minister on Media and Communications Strategy, Mr. Ofem Uket, the minister of state said the publisher alleged in the July 2020 edition, that the minister bribed the Nigerian Police in 2012 to suppress investigations into the ill-fated Dana plane crash conveying aviation passengers from Abuja to Lagos.
Mr Ohia was then arrested for not honouring police invitations on several occasions, it noted.
It alleged “that the crash was masterminded and orchestrated by the minister when he served as Group General Manager Crude Marketing at the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
“The minister is only a complainant to the police haven’t suffered libel in the hands of Tom Ohia, the publication was injurious and attempted to link the minister with the act of terrorism’.”
The statement said the magazine had in the publication disputed the report by the Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB), which clearly analysed the dual failure of the engine of the Dana airline, and that AIB never mentioned Jeddy Goddy-Agba as connected to it.
It, however, regretted that eight years later, a magazine would allege that the minister was responsible for the Dana air crash of 2012, which over 190 Nigerians lost their lives.
“Clearly, that was a misrepresentation of facts, blackmail, intimidation and libel against Jedy-Agba.”
Meanwhile, the detained journalist has filed a suit against the minister for unlawful detention while accusing the police of obtaining an illegal court warrant for that, documents posted on the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) Abuja chapter’s social media platform showed.
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