THE Publisher of Abia Facts Newspaper, Emenike Iroegbu who was arrested late Tuesday by suspected men of the State Security Service over alleged defamation against government officials of Akwa Ibom and Abia States has been released.








Iroegbu who was released yesterday has began narrating how his ordeal started when he launched Abia Facts Newspapers in 2014.


In a series titled "Abia Facts Newspapers and Abia State Government" the publisher narrated how treats to his life started during the then and now Senator T. A Orji as governor of the state.


Though the story of how it began was not completed due to parts it was divided into, Social Times is following on the details and brings you the "part one" of the series.


Mr. Enyinnaya Appolos, the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Okezie Ikpeazu in Abia had said that the state was not behind Mr. Iroegbu’s arrest, but confirmed he was wanted in the state on offences bordering on “defamation”.


“He recently published an article saying the governor buried a 9-year-old in the Government House in Umuahia,” Mr. Appolos said on Wednesday afternoon.


Social Times was able to obtain  screen-grabs of materials allegedly published by Abia Facts Newspaper about the Mr. Ikpeazu administration


Some of the materials detailed how Mr. Ikpeazu allegedly aided the killing of pro-Biafran agitators in the state. The publication, quoting inside sources, also said Mr. Ikpeazu had intensified diabolical activities within the Government House during his political battle with Uche Ogah, after the latter was issued a certificate of return by INEC.


The "part one" of his narration unedited goes thus; "Never be afraid to raise your voice for honesty, truth and compassion against injustice, lying and greed. If people all over the world would do this, it would change the earth".


~William Faulkner


 


“The truth remains that we never expected it to be easy, we knew it will come with pain, blackmail, setups and all sorts since the first day we decided to setup Abia Facts Newspaper as a news platform focused on feeding Abians the true facts of happenings in Abia State (the good, the bad and the ugly).


 


“Successive Abia State government did not really have a platform which publishes exactly what is happening in Abia state. There was no media platform which was ready to give other political ideologies the space to state their views so that Abians and Nigerians can read. Abia Facts Newspaper became odd to power brokers in the state, even as they tried to pretend the platform  did not exist, AFN kept growing more and more.


 


“When our platform kicked off in 2014, it was during the winding up of Sen. T. A Orji's led government, and the kicking off of the electioneering period, the first call we got came from the e-media aide to Sen. T. A Orji (name withheld), and the first prominent question he asked was "Are you guys working for Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu? " and we asked him why would he think so and he answered "because you guys are posting things about Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu against  Gov. T. A Orji ". That was when it immediately dawned on us that publishing any information about anyone who is perceived as the enemy of the government on ground in Abia State is a crime.


 


“We had a little disagreement, argued a little and he cut off the call with a warning for us to desist , but our self structure does not accept  intimidation ,instead intimidation encouraged us the more and we doubled our effort by  making sure the world hears the true story of what is happening in Abia State.  We made sure everyone's view were heard at all times from all divides, and our platform picked up like wild fire.


 


“So if someone tells you that ABIA FACTS NEWSPAPER is attacking or revealing deep things about Gov. Okezie Ikpeazu's government because we don't like them, it is a lie.  AFN has been on top of the game since Sen. T. A Orji's time as governor.


 


“When some national dailies were praising former Gov. T. A Orji  ,AFN was showcasing the real thing, when BCA radio and others were busy praise singing, AFN was making the world know the real thing ,before we knew what was happening, we started getting calls from Abians outside Nigeria encouraging us to keep doing the right thing and some pro state journalist were sending us stories they didnt have the temerity to publish and the stories were facts and true.


 


“Then the electioneering period came calling, that period made AFN the number one platform in Abia State. Abians all over the country and beyond  were consistently glued to AFN for updates and immediate happenings, and  that was when we grew bigger. Our website was one time shut down because of the massive log-ins, and  we had to immediately increase the size of our website and the growth continued massively.


 


“Then the challenge came, WAS ABIA FACTS NEWSPAPER WORKING FOR DR. ALEX OTTI?


 


continue tomorrow....”