Punch Council denies assassination plot against Sultan JULY 14, 2013 BY GODWIN ISENYO AND ALLWELL OKPI Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Abubakar III The Sultanate Council in Sokoto said on Friday that there was no plot to assassinate the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar lll, as some media reports claimed. The council, in a statement signed by the Magajin Garin Sokoto, Hassan Danbaba, noted that the assassination story was an attempt to link the security operation that took place on Wednesday in the Gidan Dare area of Sokoto township with the Sultan. The statement said it was imperative to issue a rebuttal so as to correct the misleading impression the report might have created in the minds of Nigerians. “The Sultanate Council denounces the newspaper’s contrived attempt to link the security operation that took place on Wednesday, July 10, 2013 in the Gidan Dare area of Sokoto Township with His Eminence, the Sultan, Alhaji Mohammed Sa’ad Abubakar III. “Contrary to the professional requirements of news reporting, the accompanying news item contained no attribution or credible basis to justify the screaming headline and did not reflect any attempt to verify such a disturbing report either from the military authorities who conducted the operation or from the Sultanate Council, the statement read in part,” the statement read in part. It added, “The unethical slant to an event that was adequately publicised by the authorities concerned as an operation triggered by a tip-off on the existence of a terrorist hide-out in the Gidan Dare area of Sokoto that was successfully executed indicates the paper’s scant regard for factual reporting of events while giving undeserved attention to the speculative and ill-intentioned imagination of its reporter.” The council urged media to observe the ethics and standards of the profession of journalism in carrying out their duties. Meanwhile, the Muslim Rights Concern also refuted media reports that the attack foiled by security agents in Sokoto State was targeted at the Sultan of Sokoto, His Eminence Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III. There were reports in the media (not The Punch), on Friday that the attack of Wednesday, in Sokoto State was targeted at the Sultan. The reports quoted anonymous security sources.
Posted on: Sun, 14 Jul 2013 14:42:54 +0000
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