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By Pius Mordi

More than any other factor, advancements in technology have had profound effects in the media industry. From news gathering to production and getting the finished product to readers, the logistic challenges are huge. All that paled into insignificance when technology ushered the new media. For the traditional newspaper industry, it was nearly a death knell when online journals virtually took over news dissemination.

They are real time and, as is often the case, not bound by the rigours, processes and rules of determining what is news. When such journals are owned by one man who is publisher, editor, reporter and sub-editor, again, as if often the case with majority of the numerous online journals, the quest to break the news and beat rivals to it do come with consequences they may not have envisaged.

That was precisely how it turned out when one of the prominent politicians in Delta State and a notable female politician in the country was targeted by kidnappers.

Delta State has always been a safe haven for all and sundry, especially business people, the hospitality industry and Nollywood. With its hospitable and peaceful people, Asaba, capital of the state, has steadily become the major entertainment centre in Nigeria. Even business owners in the Onitsha and other commercial centres in southeast have relocated to the capital city and commute daily from Asaba. There had hard not been any high profile violent criminal activity there.

All that changed on Tuesday, July 30, 2024 when Rt. Hon. Joan Onyemaechi went for her usual fellowship that holds every Tuesday. A woman of God, philanthropist, humanitarian and fervent preacher of the Word, she founded the King Jesus and I Ministry. No level of her political engagements or place of abode could keep her away from the duty she took up. In Asaba where she has held public office, including the Delta State House of Assembly and represented Aniocha South Local Government Area twice or Abuja where she represented Aniocha-Oshimili Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, she was never distracted from the fellowship nor failed to minister at every session.
She became the target of the new frontier in kidnapping introduced by hoodlums who abducted her while she was ministering at the fellowship and whisked her away. But that is just a part of the story.

While the Police in Delta State, the government and her community were pondering what the attack which saw the killing of her Police orderly and driver was all about, one of the online newspapers came out a few days afterwards with what subjected Deltans, especially the people of Ubulu-Uku into a collective trauma.
On August 2, The Will, an online journal based in the United States, came with what it called ‘Breaking News’. According to it, Ada Anioma as Onyemaechi was popularly know had been murdered by her abductors. In gory details, The Will described the state of a body said to have been recovered by the bank of River Niger.

For the people of Ubulu-Uku, it was an unimaginable nightmare. How could affliction strike twice? Earlier in January 2016, His Royal Highness, Edward Akaeze Ofulue III, Obi of Ubulu-Uku, had been kidnapped on the highway by Fulani herders. He later joined his ancestors in the process. His passage threw the royal family and the town into turmoil.

The then Commissioner of Police in Delta State, Baba Alkali Usman, now retired, later paraded the suspected Fulani hereders before the press after which they were arraigned in court. Unfortunately, eight years later, the suspects’ trial is still going on at the Delta State high court, Ibusa under Mr. Justice M. O. Omovie. Ada Anioma was the pivot of the efforts to restore stability in the town. Was affliction about to hit the community again?

However, knowing the antecedents of Hon. Onyemaechi and the circumstances under which she was kidnapped – in the house of God while preaching – the community felt that the kidnappers had overreached themselves by daring God. “To kidnapp a preacher of God’s word is daring the power of God. When it emerged that that was how she was kidnapped, I knew just like other Palace chiefs that God will magnify Himself and rescue our daughter”, said Chief Christopher Okolie, Oji Chukwubuluzor of Ubulu-Uku.

Despite the report by The Will, he said the chiefs believed Ada Anioma will come back alive. The same positive feeling was shared by the entire community which embarked on ceaseless prayers. The prayers of the Palace chiefs was joined by the entire community, which held daily early morning prayers for her safe return. Even as those in the Diaspora held daily collective prayers online that started every 1a.m, those in the community equally held their own prayers at the town square every 6 a.m.

The ceaseless prayers was an acknowledgement of how dear Onyemaechi is to Ubulu-Uku. She is one of the shining lights, one that ushered an era where the community started getting its due in Aniocha South and Delta politics. Ultimately, God harkened to the voice of the people and Ada Anioma returned safely.

Now, what informed The Will’s ‘Breaking News’ when it had not gotten the facts? Breaking news is usually associated with actual events based on eye witness accounts or the experience of the reporter. There was no such thing in the Ada Anioma saga. The publisher of the journal who authored the story gave gory details of the state of the body he claimed was found by the bank of the Niger River is based in the United States. Somehow, only he got the story of the discovery. He obviously ignored the fundamentals that guide such ‘Breaking News’. He quoted nobody, he was no witness and there was no visual illustration. Usually, journalists are taught to show respect for victims of violent accidents. Even when they have pictures, decency demands that grahic pictures are not published. And when the Police is involved, they are also taught not to name the victims until the family has been notified. This is to mitigate the trauma associated with the tragedy. That is the procedure in the US where The Will’s publisher is based.
He threw caution to the wind, ignored the dictum of journalism, a fundamental one at that, that as a reporter, when in doubt, leave out. The outcome was the unimaginable trauma the people of Ubulu-Uku went through. But they trusted God that as a servant of the Most High, He will prove Himself. He had to live up to His supreme name. That is why He is God. Ada Anioma has returned safely to her family and her people.