Sam Omatseye, chairman of the editorial board of The Nation, wrote an article titled ‘Obi-tuary’ which was published in The Nation on August 1.
By Jeffrey Agbo
Sam Omatseye’s family has appealed to the public not to be offended by a controversial article written by the journalist.
Omatseye, chairman of the editorial board of The Nation, wrote an article titled ‘Obi-tuary’ which was published in The Nation on August 1. His article was a direct attack on the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, and his supporters.
The journalist soon received death threats over the article.
Reacting to the development on Friday, the patriarch of Omatseye family in Warri, Delta State, Prof Jim Omatseye, told The Nation that it is okay to disagree with a journalist’s opinion. He, however, added that it is out of place to threaten such person as a result of it.
He said: “I want to react to the negative reaction that is coming from many quarters as a result of the article Obi-tuary, which was written by Sam Omatseye, who is a member of my family.
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“The reaction that is trailing that publication, I believe, it’s as a result of what is happening in the country; the state of insecurity, the high level of poverty, the suffering of so many people. And as a result of this, people are looking for change, whether from the right or from the left.
“The regular parties have people who have disappointed a lot of people in the country as a result of these challenges and people are looking for change.
“Whatever it is that Sam has written, it’s his personal opinion to which he is entitled. But he should not be threatened by anyone because he’s doing his job as a journalist.
“It is not all the time that what journalists say, everybody agrees with. Therefore, we want to say, from the perspective of the family that he should not be threatened or harmed by anyone.
“We plead with the public and those who disagree with him, to not do anything that will be detrimental to him”.
As of press time, Obi had yet to reply to Omatseye’s article.