The Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, Ondo Council on Friday issued a warning to fake journalists to avoid the state as campaigning for the general elections of 2023 intensifies.
Leke Adegbite, the chairman of the NUJ, stated that the union is committed to stopping the influx of quacks into the writing industry and said that the action will stop people from entering the state on the pretense of being journalists.
Olaoluwa Meshack, the state’s secretary of labor, stressed in a statement that during political seasons, bogus journalists posing as correspondents or reporters of various media outlets headquartered outside the state always invade to extort unsuspecting victims.
“These groups of people are not journalists or media professionals because they do not work for a media organization. However, they continue to organize into a cartel and go to key state areas to extort cash from unsuspecting members of the public.”
In order to avoid embarrassment, the union advises professional journalists entering the state to register their presence with the Council prior to entering the field.
The union insisted that any journalists who are not properly recognized will be labeled impersonators and that state security personnel have been alerted to the situation.
In order to avoid falling for these quacks who had infiltrated the ranks and files of the profession, we are also requesting that government officials, especially politicians during this election season, be wary of the antics of these unscrupulous elements by asking questions about their identities and their media stations.
The council added that the measure would strengthen the union’s zero-tolerance policy against dubious and fraudulent journalists.
“We urged all union members to help the Task Force members succeed in their duties, and we advised the public to phone the NUJ Taskforce at the following numbers: 08060532805, 08066596452, and 08032649623 to report any activities of any phony journalists caught in the act.”
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