The Chief Executive Officer of Tin Can Island Container Terminal (TICT), Mr. Etienne Rocher has threatened to sue a maritime journal (not SHIPS & PORTS DAILY) for publishing a malicious and damaging article without cross-checking the facts with his company.
In a letter dated December 1, 2014, Rocher said the damaging article published on 24th November 2014 captioned “TICT Staff Arrested for Hacking Customs Officer Password at Tin Can” was anything but true.
“This damaging publication went to press without reference to TICT at least to afford us an opportunity to state the true position of things. The fact of the matter was that on the 10th of November 2014 at around 19:15hrs, a hacker (not a TICT staff) was caught trying to hack into a customs officer’s system; in fact the hacker was apprehended with the assistance and intervention of TICT’s security department and was promptly handed over to the customs for further investigations.
“It is therefore disheartening to observe that the incident was totally misrepresented and constructed in such a way as to damage the integrity and good name of TICT before its highly esteemed customers and well-meaning citizens of this great Country Nigeria,” Rocher stated.
He said the company’s lawyers have demanded a retraction of the malicious publication within seven days or the media house should be ready for litigation. The company also demanded an unreserved apology.
It would be recalled that several stakeholders in the past including the Controller, Apapa Command of Nigeria Customs Service, Comptroller Charles Edike, Chairman of Genesis Shipping and former Minister of Transport, Capt. Emmanuel Ihenacho and Apapa Bulk Terminal Limited (ABTL) have accused the same publication of spreading falsehood agents them and exhibiting a lack of professionalism.
Reacting to the false publication against ABTL by the journal, a source in the Managing Director’s office said: “It is a typical case of junk journalism by one of those fake newspapers that go around blackmailing people.”
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