‘Why journalists must be stakeholders in peace building’
Captain Salisu Mustapha is the longest serving Media and Information Officer for the Special Task Force (STF), Operation Safe Haven, in Plateau State. He was recently appointed Assistant Director, Army Public Relations for 31 Artillery Brigade Minna, Nige
Hreportage? To be honest, some of the journalists are really trying and I can say they are excellent but there are others that need to do more. Although everybody needs to improve, but there are some who are very responsible, they will not do a story without balancing it by getting the Special Task Force (STF) to confirm or deny certain issues, and by so doing they remove any form of bias in their stories. Then there are those who don’t do that, and when you read their stories, you will wonder if they have journalism training because by their stories you will notice that they are so sectional and sentimental. ow would you rate the capacity of journalists in Plateau State in terms of conflict
What role do you think journalists can play in the peace process?
Journalists can play a vital role in the peace process, therefore they must have sincerity of purpose. Let them see themselves as stakeholders in the crisis management and peace process on the Plateau. Their reportage must be without any hidden sentiments or bias. They shouldn’t side with a particular group, organization, government and community. As long as the journalists on the Plateau will stand to that and also cooperate with all other stakeholders and report the actual facts in an incident, then I think they will be helping in the peace management.
How do you feel when you see or read reports that the STF believe to be one-sided?
I really feel sad when I see or read such stories. I always put myself in their position, and ask how will I feel if I were to do such reports that are basically onesided and how will people look at me? It doesn’t say well about one’s professionalism.
How can you report something from a third party when you know you can get to the actual source to get the facts and figures? If it is a problem of getting access to information, then that can be understandable.
Though some reporters will rather call a government official but it is very important that you get your facts from the STF, if you want first-hand information because before any government official is able to go to the scene, the men of the STF are there. As long as you have access to the required information from the STF, or liaise with them to get facts and figures, then you will have a better story.
What were the challenges you faced serving as media officer of the STF in Plateau State?
Basically the challenges have to do with dealing with journalists. It has not been easy because everyone wants his story in a different way and expects his answers again in that particular line to suit his own agenda, whatever it is. And as someone who is a spokesman of the task force, you can never appear to be siding a particular group or be bias. So as much as you are trying to be careful, you will still step on so many people’s toes but the only thing is for you to please one or not.
Journalists on the Plateau have often complained about STF not releasing information on time. What are the reasons for the delay?
There are times when we are on the field in certain remote areas and journalists will want to confirm a certain incident and they will be unable to reach me probably due to the nature of the network service in that area. We know that journalists work on deadlines but sometimes it takes a little longer than necessary to get the exact information before we are able to convey it or release it to the general public. I will not want to give you a figure that I will likely change later. So I will want a situation where I will get all the necessary details before I distribute it to the general public, that is why it gets a little late sometimes.
There have also been cases where the task force and police give different casualty figures after attacks in certain parts of the state. What can you say about that?
Sometimes that is why there is a little bit of delay from our part because we want to be sure that what we are giving is the fact and final. For instance, if there is an incident in a community, we may get information that one person was shot dead and may be two others injured, that is the first information we get in the first 20 or 30 minutes of the attack. It is possible now that after two to three hours, the figure may change to two people killed, one person wounded. It is the same attack but the figures have changed and these are some of the things that sometimes delay or contradict the reports.
How do you think the issues on the Plateau can be addressed to stop the incessant killings?
The issues on the Plateau must be addressed holistically and I think the government must come in more and act in some areas. The STF is just providing security to ensure that conflict does not erupt in some areas.
But there are some issues that have to do with the welfare of the citizens and I think when they do that, some of these criminalities will be checked. The justice system needs to play its own part in dealing decisively with the criminals who are caught and also on our own part, we try to ensure that the acts of criminality, which is the cause of all these, does not erupt into major violence.
Certain times, men of the task force have been molested by some communities who ask them to leave. How do you feel when this happen?
These things happen a lot. Till today there are some communities that have rejected the STF and usually we grant some of them such privilege and just decide to deploy our troops to the nearest place or community. We are not in the communities to derive anything, it is just because, perhaps, the commander sees it as a place where he could easily checkmate some crisis or criminal acts that could be coming up from one particular side of the state. So in an event where some communities reject us, we move to the next place and, of course, some communities do that because they have some ill motives, they have some skeletons in their closets, we know that. And even though we oblige them and move out, that does not mean we will overlook them, we continue to watch them closely and if something comes up that we need to be there, with or without their consent, we will move in to do our job.