The governor of Kogi state, Mr. Yahaya Bello, has withdrawn the case of defamation he filed against a Bayelsa born blogger and owner of Naija TV Live, Mr. Saint Miepamo Onitsha, after the later begged the governor for forgiveness.
Mienpamo, through his online platform accused Governor Bello of spending a whopping sum of N7 billion on a makeshift COVID-19 isolation centre which was later blown off by wind sometime in 2020.
The said publication generated a lot of controversy which led to the arrest of the blogger by the Department of State Security (DSS) and his subsequent arraignment at the Federal High Court sitting in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa state capital.
Speaking at the premises of the court shortly after the suit was withdrawn and struck out by Justice Abimbola Awogboro, Saint Miepamo said he decided to apologise and plead with Governor Bello to withdraw the case on realising that his publication lacked facts.
“First of all, I want to appreciate the Kogi state governor for playing a fatherly role. I appreciate him because he has decided to forgive me as a father and I take him as a father from today.
“On the professional angle, as journalists, we do confirm stories before we publish. I will still make sure that going forward, I will get to the root of all my stories before publication,” Mienpamo said.
He also used the medium to commend the Commissioner for Information and Communications in Kogi state, Mr. Kingsley Sanwo, for taking the time to come from Kogi to Yenagoa to see to the amicable end of the case.
Also speaking, the Kogi state commissioner for information described Governor Bello as media friendly and would not want anything that may destroy the existing cordial relationship between him and the media.
