The Federal Government has closed down Catholic Church-sponsored Oziza FM in Owerri, the capital of Imo State indefinitely.
Sources said the radio station was closed over its coverage of the Awo-Mmamma massacre.
Among the stakeholders who accused governor Hope Uzodimma of complicity in the closure of the station include the PDP Candidate for Imo East Senatorial District, Uche Onyeaguocha.
Onyeaguocha observed with consternation the recent closure of the Catholic-owned Radio Station in the State, Oziza 96.1 FM, by the National Broadcasting Corporation.
He noted that, the latest action by “the oppressive regime of Senator Hope Uzodimma, after the gruesome slaughtering of fourteen innocent Imo youths at Otulu is provocative and disheartening.
“Regrettably, rather than appealing to God for self-cleansing, Senator Uzodimma further prevailed on the NBC to shutdown Oziza FM for uncovering the nefarious activities of his administration and exposing to the public, his slaughtering spree in Imo state particularly in Orlu zone using his Ebubeagu militia.
“The instigated closure of the Radio Station is nothing but a calculated ploy by Governor Uzodimma to gag the press and other democratic voices in the State.
“We condemn in strongest terms the draconian, strong-arm and headmasterist/bravado tactics of Senator Hope Uzodimma to blatantly stifle free speech and independence of the media.
“We call on Imolites, the Catholic Community and people of good conscience to rise in solidarity against the further degeneration of Imo State into a state of lawlessness where democratic voices are gagged by the state Government”.
But Imo State government said it has no hand in the closure of Oziza FM.
The Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Hon Declan Emelumba said all inquiries as to why Oziza FM was closed indefinitely should go to the NBC.
He described as unfortunate and unfounded the wild allegation by Chief Uche Onyeagocha that the government was responsible for the closure of the station.
“First of all I am shocked that a lawyer of Uche Onyeagocha’s standing doesn’t know that there are rules governing the operation of broadcast media and that the regulatory body has power to sanction any station that runs foul of the rules,” Emelumba said.
He added that Onyeagocha should have remembered that sometime in February this year, the NBC slammed the same Osiza FM for employing a quack as one of their presenters.
“There was no Awo Omama incident that time so it is fatuous for Onyeagocha not to see a connection between the February sanction of the radio station and its present ordeal,” he explained.
According to him, if Onyeagocha was one of those who goaded the station to breach the rules, they should bear the consequences instead of making the state government the scapegoat and linking it to the Awo Omama incident.
He noted that the state government has no power to regulate the conduct of the press let alone gag them.
Said he: “It is either the man is ignorant or mischievous because the laws are there to regulate the conduct of the press and media practitioners. Governor Hope Uzodimma didn’t make those laws.”
The Commissioner regretted that Onyeagocha who is of the opposition PDP has found it convenient to disparage the name of the state Governor at every point.
According to him, while it was understandable that the emergence of Uzodimma as Governor led to Onyeagocha’s ouster as secretary to the government, he ought to have moved on and adjusted to the reality of his fate instead of constantly engaging in criminal libel against the Government.
Emelumba said blackmailing the governor to gain cheap political relevance would never win him any election, rather it will continue to expose him as an immature, temperamental and irrational person, unfit to occupy an exalted seat in the red Chambers.
“My sincere advice to him is to concentrate on his already ill fated campaign instead of the consistent name calling of the governor. His popularity will be tested at the ballots,not on the number of press releases he churns out against Uzodimma,” Emelumba submitted.
