By Emeka AMAEFULA
No sooner than Midnight of Wednesday 25th of March, 2020 did the National Center For Diseases Control NCDC of Nigeria announced the first victim of Corona virus female victim did the general Manager of The Tide Newspaper a seasoned journalist and former Chairman of Nigerian Union of Journalists Comrade Vincent Ake asked his editors to swing into action and break the news from both online portal of the state owned newspaper and the hard copy version of the newspaper. But his professional responsibility never crossed his mind about the chain of command as state owned media organizations must be censored by the executive governor Nyesom Ezebunwo Wike who is the number one security officer of the state.
Shocked and surprised was the governor when he started receiving phone calls from his close friends about the outbreak of COVID 19 of which as the chairman of the Committee in charge of the management of the COVID 19, he is supposed to be briefed first before such stories are published for public consumption. That was the alleged offence of a seasoned journalist and ex Manager of The Tide Newspaper Corporation Comrade Vince Ake.
www.towncrier.ng gathered that the Rivers state executive governor immediately summoned the Commissioner for Information Pastor Paulinus Nsirim who is the Secretary to the COVID 19 Committee, to issue a Press Release that Comrade Vincent Ake has been relieved of his duties and is hereby directed to hand over properties of the corporation in his custody to the next senior officer in the corporation where he once headed as the Managing Director.
On Thursday 26th, March 2020, Governor Wike went on public radio to announce to the Rivers state residents that there has been a female victim, a model and native of Edo state who is resident at Port Harcourt who visited European countries before returning to Port Harcourt before the beginning of the interstate borders closure by 6pm on Thursday 26th of March, 2020.
Subsequently on Saturday 28th of March, 2020 the executive governor ordered for the closure of all Open /public markets in Rivers state as a way to contend the spreading of COVID 19 as he informed the general public that all those who had contacts with the female victim should present themselves for self isolation.