Libel: DELSU threatens media houses

From Paul Osuyi, Asaba

The management of Delta State University (DELSU), Abraka, has vowed to take necessary legal action against any media house that publishes fabricated stories to ridicule the institution.

The Vice Chancellor of the university, Prof Andy Egwunyenga, made this known in a statement he issued through the instruction’s Public Relations Officer, Eddy Agbure.

Egwunyenga was reacting to a new report in a section of the media that alleged that the university had exploited students of N4,000 purportedly for the production of the school magazine.

The VC said there was never a time his administration or the institution exploited her students as contained in the said report.

He described the report as baseless, untrue, unfounded and cheap blackmail to destroy the image of the institution.

Saying that his administration had a cordial relationship with the media, the VC urged journalists not to take advantage of such a relationship to fabricate stories for publication.

‘I stopped criminal exploitation of DELSU students by persons who claimed to be journalists that published a ‘DELSU at 25 magazines in 2020’ when the university is almost 30.

‘The magazine publication was outdated, unnecessary and useless and no amount of blackmail will make the university be part of it.

‘The institution will not hesitate to sue whoever that takes to journalism of destruction and cheap blackmail without considering the rules of the game and ethics that guide the practice of the journalism profession which is fair and balanced reportage.

‘The institution and the media have maintained a good working relationship over the years, but that does not in any way give anyone the room to ridicule the name of the institution by dragging the school to the mud over a cooked story, that my administration will never entertain, rather we will resort to taking legal steps to address the issue.

‘The institution will spare no media house found wanting of such libellous story without carrying out a thorough investigation of the issues at hand before rushing to the press for publication and I will never join issues with those criminals,’ he stated.