How National Investigations Bureau threatened a journalist to drop ‘serious’ story against SOE

An officer of the National Investigations Bureau (NIB) formerly the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) last year (2020) allegedly placed a phone call to a lady journalist and threatened her to drop all her leads and follow-up on a story that involved a state company’s dealings.

This was revealed by investigative journalist Manasseh Azure Awuni who wondered which law emboldened state security to make such an intervention which barred the journalist from pursuing leads to the story which affected the state in a big way.

According to Manasseh Azure, NIB justified its intervention in the matter because it claimed it was “working on it”.

In an article sighted by MyNewsGh.com, Mr. Azure Awuni said the story involved a government institution and some private businesses but stopped short of mentioning any names.

Manasseh Azure Awuni wrote:

“Last year, for instance, a BNI officer called to warn a journalist to stay off a story she was pursuing. The story involved a government institution and some private businesses, which affected the state. The journalist was issued a stern warning to stay off it because the BNI was also working on it.”

“Which law emboldens the state security agencies to warn journalists not to pursue stories that the state security are investigating?” he asked.