TheCable

Tony Nwulu, a former member of the house of representatives, has denied threatening Oke Epia, publisher of OrderPaper Nigeria.

On Friday, Epia had accused Nwulu of threatening him and some members of his team over an investigative report.

Nwulu, however, maintained that he never threatened Epia, alleging that Epia is being sponsored to tarnish his image.

“Epia has been whipping up sentiments… He has held political office as the chief press secretary to Emeka Ihedioha, the incumbent governor and my rival during the last governorship election in Imo state,” he said.

“I have a lot of respect for journalists and the media as the fourth estate of our democracy, especially in the face of the risk that they undertake on a daily basis to keep us informed.

“But I charge journalists to device means of identifying those I call wolves in journalists skin. As a major stakeholder and beneficiary in journalism, I can never undermine a journalist. I believe in freedom of the press.

“I am aware Epia has equally alleged that I have issued threats to his life. Nothing could be further from the truth and I challenge him to produce any evidence of such threats. These are barefaced lies calculated to court public sentiments.”

The police had grilled Epia on Tuesday accusing him of defamation of character.