The Arewa Youth Consultative Forum (AYCF) says there is no truth behind reports that it called for the arrest of veteran journalist, Dele Momodu for interviewing Nnamdi Kanu.
Momodu conducted the Instagram Live interview with the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) leader last week.
Since the interview, which was watched by thousands, reports had circulated that AYCF’s National President, Alhaji Yerima Shettima called for Momodu’s arrest.
He was alleged to have said that the journalist should not have conducted such an interview knowing Kanu to be a fugitive from the law.
However, AYCF denied the allegation, saying the purveyors of the fake news were out to tarnish the image of its leader.
It described the reports, which circulated at the weekend, as “fake, malicious and injurious fabrication” from the pit of hell.
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In a statement signed by its Legal Adviser, Barrister Liman on Sunday, AYCF said that the report was politically-motivated and targeted at the good name its leader had built for decades as a fearless democrat.
“Those spreading the fake news against our National Chairman have been doing so for quite some months now,” the group stated.
According to the statement, “the agenda of this shadowy group, which is bent on ridiculing the image and integrity of our National President, is to score cheap political points”.
The group said it would not hesitate to institute legal action against those behind the fake reports at the completion of investigations.
“The AYCF’s National President, our own vocal Shettima Yerima has been one of the leading lights in the advocacy for restructuring and good governance.
“He has also been an advocate of peace and dialogue and we wish to warn his detractors that their campaign of calumny will never change that,” the group noted.