The wife of the detained Nigerian journalist, Agba Jalingo has spoken up about her ordeal and what her husband told her before his detention.
Mrs Violet Agba, wife of detained journalist and human rights
activist, Agba Jalingo, who is facing trial at a Federal High Court in
Calabar, Cross River State, for alleged treasonable felony, speaks with
ADA WODU about the travails of her husband
How long have you and Agba Jalingo been married?
We got married in 2009.
Your husband is being tried for treasonable felony after being
arrested and detained by the police for a long time, how have you been
coping?
Since his detention, it has not been easy but God has been faithful to me.
Where were you when he was arrested?
I was with him in the house when the men (police) came to arrest him.
When I asked them who they were, they told me they were policemen and
that my husband had a case to answer in Calabar. And when I asked them
for his arrest warrant, their response was that I should go and relax
and that they didn’t have any business with me.
How would you describe the arrest, especially as he was charged
for treason following allegations of corruption he levelled against the
Governor of Cross River, Ben Ayade?
I will say my husband, Agba Jalingo, was abducted because the men were
not in police uniform, and neither were they with an arrest warrant. I
will describe the arrest as illegal. It is also an illegal detention and
abuse of state apparatus by Governor Ben Ayade of Cross River State.
Do you think there is any justification for him to have been held for this long?
There is no justification for his continued detention because even if my
husband’s publication where he asked the governor to account for the
N500m belonging to the Cross River State-owned microfinance bank was
false, my husband, Agba Jalingo, should not be charged with treason
because the matter ought to be a civil matter.
How did the whole matter start between your husband and the governor?
My husband is in the best position to say how it happened from the beginning.
Have you been able to talk to him since he was arrested?
I visited him in prison, so we talked.
When was the last time you saw your husband as a free man?
The last time I saw him as a free man was before his abduction on August 22, 2019.
And what was the last thing he said to you or that you said to him before then?
The last thing he told me was not to worry, that this shall end in praise.
Do you believe that your husband was fighting for justice?
My husband asking Governor Ben Ayade to account for the state resources
was for the good of the people of Cross River State. He was fighting for
the whole state. He was fighting for the good of the state. That was
why he was asking the questions. It is the state’s resources he was
asking the governor to account for. I am very convinced that he was
fighting for the right thing. He was arrested because of the N500m he
asked questions about, which was meant for the microfinance bank of
Cross River State. They charged him for treason and all that because he
asked questions – account for this money – which I think doesn’t warrant
all this.
Why do you think he is being victimised out of all the journalists in the state? Is there something else?
I can’t really say I know why, or maybe because he is the one asking the
right questions. Maybe other people have not asked questions bordering
on the state’s resources.
What has been your experience with friends and outsiders since his ordeal started?
It has been very encouraging and supportive because my friends,
relatives and family members know what Agba Jalingo stands for. They
know Agba Jalingo stands for justice. Agba Jalingo is a journalist and
human rights activist. People around us know what Agba Jalingo stands
for. They say this is not supposed to happen. He even asks the Federal
Government questions. He had been asking questions, so bringing it down
to Cross River State was like taking it home. It doesn’t warrant all
these things.
Has there been any discouragement from some quarters?
No. Rather, we have been getting encouragements.
Have elders in Obudu intervened, since the governor and your husband are kinsmen?
They are kinsmen. You know that me, I am a wife. I am from Delta State.
Let me say I am from the Niger Delta, because my father is from Delta
State, my mother is Ijaw and I was born in Port Harcourt and my husband
is from Cross River State. So I would say I am from Niger Delta, but
when you talk about Obudu, I am a wife. Though they have been doing
their own stuff and all that, I would not want to dabble into it. You
need to talk to Obudu people.
How soon do you think he will be released?
I want him to be released as soon as possible. The court is just
adjourning. There is nothing Agba Jalingo has done that will warrant him
to be in prison. He only asked a question. He asked the governor to be
accountable and it is the duty of a journalist to inform the people, to
ask questions that other citizens will not be able to ask, coupled with
the fact that he is also an activist.
I don’t think he asked a personal question. He didn’t ask Ayade how he
was spending his personal resources. He only asked about the state’s
resources.
Have you read the charges against him? Do you think, as they said, he wants to topple Cross River State Government?
Does he look like somebody that will do that? Does he look like somebody
that is violent, that would want to disrupt the peace of Cross River
State? Everything boils down to the N500m for the state’s microfinance
bank that he asked questions about. He was also telling the governor to
conduct local government election. I heard they have fixed a date for
local government election. That was one of the questions Agba Jalingo
was asking. Asking him to conduct local government election, is it not
for the good of Cross River State people? Asking him to account for the
N500m meant for the Cross River State Microfinance Bank, is it for Agba
Jalingo’s pocket? Is it not for Cross River State? The people that are
supposed to work there and the people that are supposed to collect loans
and all that, are they not Cross Riverians? Is it Agba Jalingo? It is
for the good of the state and every citizen of the state.
Do you regret marrying an activist?
No! No! No! I don’t regret marrying an activist. I think they are the
best people. For somebody to want to stand on the side of the people; if
you are not a good person, if you don’t have love in your heart, if you
are not a sincere person, if you are not a trustworthy person, you
can’t be an activist, because activists on many occasions deprive
themselves of a lot of things just for the good of the masses. So, it
takes love, care and sacrifice for somebody to be an activist.
So I love my husband for that. I love him for who he is. I have no
regrets. My husband is a lovely person. For those around him, for those
that have worked with him, they know that Agba Jalingo is a lovely
person. It is only those people that do not like his face and are not
sincere that have issues with him. Agba Jalingo is a clean person. He is
somebody who wants every person to be happy. Even if he is not
benefitting from it, if everybody is happy, he is happy. Your happiness
is his happiness. Community’s happiness is his happiness. That is who
Agba Jalingo is.
Do you think that your husband will get justice?
My husband will get justice. Lies cannot cover the truth. I believe that
Governor Ben Ayade is behaving like an ostrich about Agba Jalingo’s
freedom. He should free himself by freeing Agba Jalingo. That is all I
have to say.
***
Source: The PUNCH
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