Police Refutes Punch Newspaper Claims on Arrest of A Journalist over A Report on Commissioner of Police

 

 Rivers State Police Command says it's attention has been drawn to a report credited to the Punch Newspaper of Tuesday, 17th November, 2020, where it was reported that Rivers Police arrested and detained a Journalist over a report on Commissioner of Police.

The Command says ordinarily, the report should have been ignored for lacking in merit but in order not to allow the public form a dangerous impression therefrom, it has thus become expedient to react and state the true facts as follows: 

 

That on 13/11/2020 the duo of Mark Lenu and Kenechi Okenyi, Port Harcourt based online Journalists were invited by the Commissioner of Police over an unverified report credited to Kelechi Okenyi of portcitynews.

That at the behest of the Commissioner of Police, both of them were in the CP’s Office and after they were presented with relevant facts contrary to what he Kenechi Okenyi had published, they became sober and immediately pleaded for forgiveness and further suggested to standdown the story with a Refuttal  to that effect, following which the CP in his fatherly disposition, cautioned and allowed them to go the same day, unconditionally. 

Public Relations Officer Mr. Nnamdi Omoni in a press statement said it was pertinent to state that Kenechi Okenyi whose act amounted to libel was never detained nor harassed in any manner and the Refuttal dated 13/11/2020 and credited to Kenechi Okenyi, the publisher of the libelous report, was voluntarily made by him and published by The PortCity News without any form of intimidation and molestation but on his own volition. 

The police image maker explaining further said the fact was verifiable and in tardem with the the Refuttal by his colleague, Mark Lenu published on 16/11/2020 in his News Eye Blog.

Consequently, the Command stated  that Mr. Kenechi Okenyi was never arrested, detained nor harassed in anyway contrary to the report of Punch and any other media House.

He added that in the light of the above, the public is hereby enjoined to disregard and discountenance the report as same is self-serving and is only intended to overreach the Command,as it  has overtime maintained a healthy working relationship with the Media, being the watchdogs of the society and cannot but sustain the existing relationship in the overall interest of the public.