UPDATED: Military clamps down on media houses, intercepts newspaper distribution

 

Newspaper distribution vans were Friday intercepted by soldiers in many parts of the country, delaying delivery in some states and stopping distribution in many others.

Daily Trust gathered from its distribution department that, all  consignments for Kano, Kaduna, Lokoja, Oshogbo, Portharcourt, Yola, Bauchi, Gombe, Sokoto, and Kebbi states were intercepted.

Daily Trust was able to distribute in Jos, Katsina, Daura, Zaria, Abuja, Lagos, Benue state and Nassarawa state.

 

 A statement released by the management of Media Trust Limited (publishers of Daily Trust) said the Army has not refuted the expose the paper did on the  sharing Abuja Barracks land among generals. 

 

“Armed soldiers this morning confiscated copies of today’s edition of DAILY TRUST across the country and disrupted the distribution of the paper in major cities including Abuja, Kano, Maiduguri and Port Harcourt,” the statement said.

 

“The soldiers, who claimed they were acting on superior order, mounted roadblocks along the major highways through which the newspaper is distributed and intercepted the delivery van. They also mounted road roadblocks around our offices in Abuja and Kano,” it added.

 

The statement “recalled that DAILY TRUST had published an exclusive lead story on Wednesday on the sharing of an Abuja barrack plots to Army generals and their spouses for personal use.”

 

  While some other newspapers were affected, heavy presence of military men was noticed near Media Trust headquarters till afternoon.

 In a statement, Defense spokesman, Major-General Chris Olukolade described the clampdown as a search for “newspapermaterials with grave security implications” the military heard are being transported in the newsprint distribution vehicles.