Goodluck Jonathan blames Jealous Haters for links to Avengers

President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan has debunked claims he is a sponsor of militant group, the Niger Delta Avengers blaming his ordeal on Jealousy and haters.

Jonathan, in a statement Thursday by his spokesman, Mr. Ikechukwu Eze, said the allegation was being sponsored by those who were intimidated by his rising profile in Nigeria and abroad.

Nigerian media was awash with reports that President Muhammadu Buhari had discreetly begun probing the former president over alleged links to the Niger Delta Avengers.

But Jonathan has dismissed the allegations, labelling them a desperate attempt at character assassination by his detractors, Punch writes.

“It is sad that the publications wore the cloak of deceit from the same misguided characters that are hell-bent on pulling down the former President despite his clear record of diligent service to his country and long-standing commitment to the good of the society,” the statement said.

“There is no doubt that there exists such people who may have scores to settle with the former President, but are now feeling frustrated by the fact that his national and international profiles have continued to rise despite their recourse to endless muck-raking character assassination. Such people will stop at nothing to continue to throw obstacles, albeit futilely, on his path.

“We are aware that the same people approached other well-meaning newspapers with the same false information, but they were wise to turn it down on account of its absurdity.”

Goodluck Jonathan only recently went on a global tour where he spoke extensively on security and corruption, advised media practitioners to be professional in their conduct, as such spurious allegations do the country’s image no good.

“From what we know about intelligence gathering, there is no responsible government agency that would rush, as claimed in the newspaper stories, to adopt the accusations of a questionable rebellious organisation as its own findings, without applying the professional processes of rigour and due diligence.

“Our media houses should be careful not to make the country a laughing stock by being hoodwinked into passing off the perverted voices of irritant groups as that of our well-respected official and security authorities.” he said.

The statement also stated that apart from toying with the serious issue of libel, the media houses that lend themselves to be cheaply used by miscreants are also doing gross disservice to our collective good and the image of the country.