Zamfara State Government has threatened to institute a court action against Sahara Reporters over its libelous report against the state government and the personality of the Governor of Zamfara State Bello Muhammad Matawalle.
Zamfara State Commissioner for Justice Barr. Nura Ibrahim Zarumi who issued the threat letter to the editor of Sahara reporters on Tuesday evening in Gusau and copied THUNDER BLOWERS ONLINE NEWS MEDIUM said “Take Notice that within (7) days of receipt of this letter, you are to publish retraction and apology on your online publication and in two other national dailies”.
Zarumi further said, “you are to also enter in to negotiation for damage with the state government”.
“The Commissioner further said “it amounts to a suspicious gamble if you treat this letter with levity but if you decide to do the gamble is clearly yours” Zarumi threatened.
“It is our mandate to intimate you of this grievous breach on the image and hard-earned reputation of the state with patent collateral damage on its people”
While trying to defend the effort of the state government in ensuring sustainable security in the state Barr. Zarumi told the Nigerian military that, “our state finds it rather strange that instead of military and other security personnel in the state to appreciate the Governor toward building an efficient and reasonable Peace in the state by providing the security agents with adequate vehicle to ease their national assignment including military in the state, your organization chose to maliciously denigrate the Governor by denting his image and that of his government”.
He further threatened Sahara Reporters “be informed that the state has not only suffered an infinite loss of Goodwill but also confronted with unbearable disgrace from within, outside the state and across the globe as a result of your publication. The state is alive to it’s right both law and equity, but it disposed to afford you an opportunity to undo the evil you have already done by retracting the same unwholesome remarks on the same platform it was published and apologize in two other national dailies”.
He added “the whole scenario becomes bewildering after reading your publication and the description of the state is totally out of place and libelous”.
“Having regard to your previous publications against the state government our state has come to the conclusion that your publication is both malicious and libelous” Zarumi added.
The Commissioner insisted that, the state government will swing to action if Sahara reporters refuse to act according to the instructions of the state on this very important issue.
