The Publisher of PRNigeria, Mr. Yushau Shuaib, has instituted legal action against Terrence Kuanum, leader of Benue Youth Forum, for accusing him of sponsoring Boko Haram terrorism after his article entitled “A Memo to President Buhari on the Service Chiefs” went viral in the media.

In his own article titled “A Rejoinder to an Impenitent Boko Haram Empathizer, Yushau A. Shuaib’s Spleen in Memo to President Buhari on Service Chief”, Terrance described Yushau as “a Boko Haram and Islamic State West African Province (ISWAP) terrorists’ empathizer and spy proxy. A quack reporter, a wonder boy and crony to his terrorists’ honchos.”

He alleged that the PRNigeria Publisher has been conscripted and assigned to deploy his pen to up the ante in campaigns for the ouster of the current Service Chiefs in order to assist Boko Haram and ISWAP terrorists.

The publisher in statement issued on Tuesday refuted the allegation, describing it as a smear campaign with a sinister Boko-Haram sympathizer labelled against him in order to provide an alibi for possible attacks and elimination by elements being sponsored for nefarious activities.

Shuaib said he has also noticed some strange movements in his vicinity which prompted him to alert the security service.

“I have already alerted security agencies and instructed my lawyers to institute legal action against Terrence Kuanum over the false and malicious allegation he leveled against me. He will have an opportunity to prove all the allegations in the court of law,” Shuaib said in the statement.

He wondered why several media that did not publish the original memo found it worthwhile to report the rejoinder with a spurious motive and malignant intent.

“Surprisingly, some of the media that didn’t publish my original article went ahead to publish the libellous rejoinder of about 3,000 words,” he noted.

Shuaib said his reports are only aimed at promoting the fight against insurgency and protecting national security.

He also revealed that he had been under pressure not to further disclose the list of over 20 towns recovered by troops during the president Goodluck Jonathan administration in his articles.

The full statement reads: “My attention has been drawn to an article titled, ‘A Rejoinder to an Impenitent Boko Haram Empathizer, Yushau A. Shuaibu’s Spleen in Memo to President Buhari on Service Chief’, authored by one Terrence Kuanum in which he made some very grievous allegations against me.

“I understand that my article did not go down well with some people and so it was not surprising that some well-intentioned and sponsored rejoinders spring up in the media to discountenance my memo to the president.

“However, I never in my wildest imagination expect that anyone can blatantly brand me a Boko Haram supporter and accomplice as Mr Terrence Kuanum’s repeatedly insisted in his sponsored and jaundiced article.

“In the said article, Kuanum stated that I am ‘a Boko Haram and Islamic State West African Province (ISWAP) terrorists’ empathizer and spy proxy’ and went further to describe me as “a quack reporter, a wonderboy and crony to terrorists’ honchos who have conscripted and assigned me to deploy my pen to up the ante in campaigns for the ouster of the current Service Chiefs’ and another section wrote that I ‘amplify media campaigns for terrorists and the banned Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN)’ among other spurious and childish allegations.

“I strongly believe the smear campaign of Boko-Haram label against me is to provide an alibi for possible attacks and elimination by elements being sponsored for nefarious activities. Apart from their intention to give a dog a bad name to hang him, they have deployed such fearmongering tactics to justify the stay-put of their masters.

“Surprisingly, some media organisations who couldn’t publish my original opinion on the necessity of changing the Service Chiefs, seem to have either been heavily induced or sponsored in publishing the libellous and defamatory article of about 3000 words against me. Few other editors claimed to have published the disjointed rejoinder to expose the ridiculous mindset of the writer and the folly of his paid masters.

“Nevertheless, since my well-intentioned article ‘Memo to President Buhari on the Service Chief’, went viral in the media and the false flag flown by inciting rejoinder of Kuanum, I have noticed some strange movements in my vicinity which prompted me to alert the security service.

“As a patriotic media and public relations practitioner and one who has gathered considerable experience in humanitarian interventions and crisis communication, my platforms including PRNigeria have been dedicated to promoting our gallant troops and made available to Information Departments of military, security, intelligence and response agencies in to tell their stories and communicate to the public.

“I have often written about the security situation in our country, providing credible intelligence, especially the fight against insurgency in the north east. I have always exercised high level of restraint and self-censorship in all my reports and articles in order not to jeopardize our national security.

“Even when we have incontrovertible information about terrorists’ repeated attacks on the hometowns of some of the security chiefs, we mute such reports in order not to embarrass the country or humiliate such officers.

“Our greatest concern is in the promotion and protection of the gallant troops on the field of battle and not necessarily the Chiefs that are ensconced in the air-conditioned offices. We recently hosted the first Security and Emergency Management Award (SAEMA) to recognize excellence in security and response agencies in Nigeria where we deliberately recognise officers and men on the field rather than their chiefs at no cost to the services.

“Our efforts in projecting the military and security services has won us local and international awards and laurels every year in the last five years.

“As a person who despise injustice and criminality, I have consistently condemned Boko Haram terrorism in the North-East and the state-terrorism in North-West including the unprecedented two-day massacre of over 300 Nigerian citizens in Zaria, few years ago.

“For sometimes now, I have been under pressure not to further disclose the list of over 20 towns recovered by previous administration in articles. I only insist that the recoveries were not just public knowledge but verifiable with video and pictorial evidences through military press releases.

“The towns that were liberated in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states during the twilight of the Goodluck Jonathan administration and recovered by our gallant troops included: Abadam, Askira, Baga, Bama, Bita, BuniYadi, Damboa, Gamboru Ngala, Goniri, Gujba, Gulani, Gwoza, Hong, Konduga, Kukawa, Marte, Madagali, Michika, Monguno, Mubi, and others. A clear testimony to some of the accomplishments was the official DHQ release dated March 16, 2015 with reference No: DHQ/ABJ/901/32/DDI and a title: ‘Troops Finally Rout Terrorists from Bama and Last Stronghold in Yobe’.

“I only hope that Mr President is being well informed with the truth about the security situations and the act of lawlessness in some parts of the country after adequately funding the security services.

“One does not need any deep background check on the said Mr Terrence Kuanum who claims to be leader of Benue Youth Forum as well as one shadowy organization called Amnesty Watch Network Foundation with a link to a website called TVN.News, to realize the institution and the person the writer may be working for.

“I have already alerted security agencies and instructed my lawyers to institute legal action against Terrence Kuanum over the false and malicious allegation he levelled against me. He will have an opportunity to prove all the allegations in the court of law.” (PRNigeria)

Update news