Late Hosea’s wife Saga , we were mislead into publishing fake news ~Mark Miracle Brave
The publisher of Express Time Magazine, Mark Miracle wishes to apologize to His Excellency, Governor Darius Dickson Ishaku of Taraba state and the wife of late Honourable Hosea Ibi over a misleading news published on May 2, 2020 against the aforementioned personalities. This is coming after the informant of the news failed to authenticate the story after months despite knowing that the publisher was arrested and detained as a result of the news which he published.
The publisher of the news, and his website designer, Mr. Danfulani Miracle were arrested on May 6, 2020 by the Nigerian police force and were charged to court by the commissioner of police on May 7, 2020. The duo were charged alongside with Comrade Idris Ayuba as a result of his Facebook post which didn’t went down well with the persons being defamed in the news. Although both pleaded not guilty before the Chief Magistrate Court in Jalingo, the capital of the state, today being July 19, 2020 the online Magazine publisher wishes to retract the news after ascertaining that he was misled by a social media user. He therefore wishes to inform the general public that the news which was published on May 2, 2020 alleging that governor Ishaku “has been into an amorous relationship with the wife of late Hosea Ibi” and that she was “pregnant” for him (Ishaku) is untruthful and such shall be disregarded by every member of the public.
Stressing that the information was fetched from a social media handle of one Specialman Tijwun who claimed to be a resident of Kpambo, the village where the wife of late Hon. Ibi hailed from. The publisher thought it was newsworthy and such would be of public interest but after being arrested and detained as a result of the publication without seeing his informant justifying the information he (the publisher) and the management of Express Time Magazine won’t hesitate to admit that the source of the news was unreliable and such rendered the news as fake or irresponsible journalism. Hence will like to apologized to those whose characters were defamed in the news (the governor and the wife of the late member of Takum 1). We will also like to apologize to the entire people of Taraba state for standing so low in committing such blunder without objective investigation. We are very sorry for the damage the news might have caused to the images of the persons being defamed in the content.
Also, without hesitation we have to concede to the fact that naivety played a vital role in the making of the news. The publisher (Mark-Miracle) is young and naive but after experiencing this challenge a lot of lessons have been learnt and caution will be taken in subsequent news reporting in order to avoid repeating the same mistake. More to that, it’s worth knowing that the publisher did not intend to defame the governor and the wife of late Hon. Ibi, however, as far as media laws and ethics are concerned, he concede to the fact that he flawed. He goofed and such finds it deem fit to apologize to the parties being defamed.
Furthermore, the publisher make bold to admit his mistakes, and such seeks for the forgiveness of governor Ishaku and the wife of late Hon. Ibi. He feels utterly remorse over the ugly occurrence. He further extends his apologise to the friends, family members, relatives, supporters and loved ones to the governor and the wife of late Hon. Ibi. as well as he calls on everyone who might have believed in the news to kindly disregard it.
Finally, we at Express Time Magazine vow to maintain, uphold and uplift the sanctity of investigative journalism. We shall play the role of watchdogs to the society through thorough investigation of every matter before writing and publishing as it is said that “once beaten, twice shy.” A golden lesson has been learnt, hence the mistake shall never be repeated as we won’t love to repeat the same class; the class of naivety and lifting of information from unreliable, unbelievable and/or unverifiable social media sources. We pledge to adhere to the norms and standard of journalism practices as well as we appeal to the conscience of H.E Arch. Darius Dickson ISHAKU and late Hosea Ibi’s wife to please withdraw the case before the trial court. Thanks.