Nigerians have condemned the alleged refusal of media houses to grant interviews to popular Plateau cleric Rev. Ezekiel Dachomo.
In various statements on social media, concerned Nigerians lamented that the famous cleric, known for being vociferous about the killings in Plateau State, is yet to be granted interviews by popular media houses in the country.
According to the cross-section of Nigerians, they lamented over the frequent interviews granted to alleged terrorist apologist Sheik Ahmad Gumi.
They berated media houses in Nigeria for granting listening ears to Gumi but failing to give such an audience to Dachomo.
Dachomo, the regional leader of the Church of Christ in Nigeria (COCIN), is known for speaking about the plight of Christians facing existential threats in Plateau State.
The cleric has become a target for terrorist groups who have vowed to eliminate him over his incessant cries about the murder of innocent Plateau Christians by suspected Fulani militias.
Nigerians alleged that the media is trying to shut Dachomo up in a bid to prevent the US from carrying out its threat to send US troops to fight the terrorists in the country.
“I feel the government is shutting him down,” Kelvin said. “They aren’t allowing him to come to the press so he won’t jeopardize them. Very annoying country,” he added.
Sharing similar sentiment, Shabberkey said, “The government is shutting him out of the media attention; it’s an unfortunate situation. Thank God for Elon Musk’s X; the world will hear about him.”
For Jerry Jacorel, he claimed, “Invite him to the media house and watch Nigeria shake. The same media denying there’s a genocide is avoiding the one person who witnessed it firsthand. That’s not coincidence.”
Chief Nwachinemerem mentioned that the media “avoid him like a plague. He has truth they don’t want to hear.”
“You want the media to amplify his lone voice, crying in the blood-drenched wilderness? You want to see magic? Chief Meca asked.
“The government knows what it’s doing. I recall how the government frowned at the reportage of killings in Nigeria then. They subdue the new,” Meca added.
For another social media user simply identified as Uchenna, he mentioned that “The complicity, which is the problem, is that Gumi is a terrorist sympathizer, but he has been enabled for the longest time, all through the Buhari era and now the Tinubu era. Sometimes defending the national sovereignty doesn’t mean part of the government is not complicit otherwise.”
Saint Onikhe alleged, “They won’t. The mainstream media are the major problem of journalism in Nigeria. They are comfortable with brown envelopes from APC to remain quiet about issues affecting the nation. I bought the Guardian newspaper daily and Newswatch, Time, and Newsweek weekly from 1985 to 2018.”
“The mainstream media, including @channelstv, @ARISEtv, etc., will never platform Rev. Dachomo but prefers to give unlimited platform to the other guy that was deported by Saudi Arabia as a security threat. We all know what we are doing in Nigeria,” Dorkitar said.
Chester mentions that Dachomo “doesn’t need all the interviews to say the truth. Remember, Gumi is state-sponsored with all the security architecture around him. When occasion calls, the pastor will speak. He will be a soft and accessible target if he keeps attending all. I know his mind is made up; let it.”
Below are more reactions from Nigerians on why the media refuses to give Dachomo interviews to speak on the crimes perpetrated by suspected Fulani terrorists.
Echieketa, “Do you want the Nigerian broadcasting authority to ban them or collect their broadcasting license? Our media has been gagged, and it is being controlled by the leadership of the government.”
Ebonylove, “They won’t invite him because they know he says nothing but the truth, and for now the media houses are protecting their daily bread. The mainstream media is controlled; this here is proof.”
Rev. Duke: “The govt may not want that, & seeing the way the matter is generating a lot of heat for them, any station that does may find itself swimming in the govt policy of trying to play down the genocide issue or the plan of total deniability. But whether they want it or not, it’s out already.”
Ella Keche, “The soul of Nigeria will be rescued. Had it not been for Trump making a statement concerning the killing, Rev. Ezekiel Dachomo would have been dead a long time ago. The government is afraid to kill him now.”
Timi: “Are we trying to act like the government is not involved in all of these? From Tinubu to anybody we can think of in governance, bringing him to the media is everything they stand against. The killings in the North, the kidnappings in the South.”
Franklin Adebayo, “It leaves one to wonder why they keep platforming a terrorist sympathizer in a nation that claims to have sovereignty. The leaders, security, and the media are all complicit in this mess.”
Misiagware: “It won’t fit the official APC narrative that Igbos & the opposition are behind the Trump threat. They have not yet worked their way to directly hold Obi personally responsible, even though Bayo Onanuga is still obsessed with him instead of working on a strategy to eradicate killings.”
