{"id":198409,"date":"2026-04-04T22:40:29","date_gmt":"2026-04-04T21:40:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/uncategorized\/wike-clarifies-threat-to-shoot-journalist"},"modified":"2026-04-04T23:56:55","modified_gmt":"2026-04-04T22:56:55","slug":"wike-clarifies-threat-to-shoot-journalist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/wike-clarifies-threat-to-shoot-journalist","title":{"rendered":"Wike Clarifies Threat to Shoot Journalist"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Nigeria. <\/strong><\/span>Nyesom Wike, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, has clarified comments he made about Channels Television\u2019s anchor, Seun Okinbaloye.<\/p>\n

Wike had said he would have \u201cbroken his TV screen and shot\u201d Okinbaloye, over his comments that a one-party system would destroy democracy in Nigeria.<\/p>\n

The statement has attracted widespread condemnation, with Amnesty International describing the minister\u2019s remarks as \u201creckless and violent\u201d.<\/p>\n

But in a statement signed by his media aide, Lere Olayinka, Wike has explained that he did not mean it literally.<\/p>\n

The statement released by Olayinka on Saturday read: \u201cThe minister never meant that he will shoot Seun Okinbaloye. They even spoke on phone today, and he (Okinbaloye) understood what the minister meant.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat the minister meant, which he made clear during the media chat was that he was angry seeing Okinbaloye, whom he hold in high esteem as a journalist, descending into the political arena by speaking as an interested party, instead of an interviewer.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe statement made by the minister was in hyperbolic context, which was clearly without intent. It was primarily using exaggeration to make a point.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven after the minister made the clarifications on the live television program, which had Chamberlain Uzor, Head of Channels Television\u2019s Abuja Office as part of the interviewers, all the journalists who were interviewing him just laughed.<\/p>\n

\u201cTherefore, after the minister detailed explanations of what he meant, including saying on the live television program that he didn\u2019t mean that he will carry gun and shoot the television anchor, it will become a clear hatchet job for any individual or group to pick the statement out of context and make any issue out of it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe public is therefore urged to discontenance the use of the comment as instrument of blackmail and propaganda by those whose intent is to misrepresent facts for their political gains.\u201d<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Nigeria<\/span> Follow Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Nigeria. Nyesom Wike, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, has clarified comments he made about Channels Television\u2019s anchor, Seun Okinbaloye. Wike had said he would have \u201cbroken his TV screen and shot\u201d Okinbaloye, over his comments that a one-party system would destroy democracy in Nigeria. The statement has attracted widespread condemnation, with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":198408,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,14],"tags":[254],"class_list":["post-198409","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-nigeria"],"yoast_head":"\nWike Clarifies Threat to Shoot Journalist - Nigeria<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Nyesom Wike, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, has clarified comments he made about Channels Television\u2019s a ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/wike-clarifies-threat-to-shoot-journalist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Wike Clarifies Threat to Shoot Journalist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Nyesom Wike, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, has clarified comments he made about Channels Television\u2019s a ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/wike-clarifies-threat-to-shoot-journalist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Nigeria\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-04-04T21:40:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-04T22:56:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2026\/04\/sm_1775343362.350125.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1728\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1151\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/wike-clarifies-threat-to-shoot-journalist#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/wike-clarifies-threat-to-shoot-journalist\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Wike Clarifies Threat to Shoot Journalist\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-04T21:40:29+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-04T22:56:55+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/wike-clarifies-threat-to-shoot-journalist\"},\"wordCount\":327,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/wike-clarifies-threat-to-shoot-journalist#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2026\/04\/sm_1775343362.350125.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Nigeria\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"Policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/wike-clarifies-threat-to-shoot-journalist#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/wike-clarifies-threat-to-shoot-journalist\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/wike-clarifies-threat-to-shoot-journalist\",\"name\":\"Wike Clarifies Threat to Shoot Journalist - 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