NGE condemns anti-graft agency's alleged invasion of Sun Newspapers

chika ebuzor

June 12, 2017 10:52 PM

Reports say the EFCC operatives said they were acting on orders from above.

EFCC Operatives

The Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) has expressed shock over the news of the alleged invasion of the premises of the SUN Publishing Ltd by heavily-armed EFCC Operatives in the early hours of June 12, 2017.

A statement in Lagos on Monday, signed by the NGE president, Mrs Funke Egbemode, said: “the fierce-looking operatives prevented staff of the organisation from either entering or leaving the premises of the company and disrupted the circulation process’’.

“As a statutory agency birthed by an Act of Parliament in a democracy, we had expected the EFCC to explore civil means of perceived infraction by a critical stakeholder in the Nigerian democratic project.’’

It lamented that the forfeiture order allegedly brandished by the EFCC at THE SUN on Monday morning was 10 years old and a matter still before the Court of Appeal.

ALSO READ: EFCC debunks reports that it molested Sun Newspapers' staff

“The Guild, therefore, urges the EFCC to purge itself of all anti-democratic tendencies in order to foster mutual cooperation with the media and other stakeholders in its anti-graft crusade.

“The Guild calls on the EFCC to put an end to its current attempts to gag the Press and also demands an unreserved apology from the commission to THE SUN Publishing Ltd."

The statement also said the EFCC had accused The Sun of publishing pro-Biafra, Boko Haram and Niger Delta militant stories.

chika ebuzor