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| Mike Ile |
By Dare Olawin
A blogger, Mike Ile, has vowed to take a legal action against Premium Times reporter, Ben Ezeamalu, for allegedly using his work on the newspaper’s website, www.premiumtimesng.com, without his permission.
Mike Ile, owner of Mike Ile's Blog, reported on his Facebook wall on Monday that Premium Times had used his story of ‘Oueens College alleged sexual assault’ on its website without giving him credit as the law demanded.
He said: "So premiumtimesng has stolen my report and reported it verbatim as their work.
"I will sue them for all that they are worth.
"Perhaps they imagine that I am some 'noodle' reporter that can be taken for granted.
"Imagine this. A big news medium steals stories without crediting the owner? And they lied that the principal issued a statement?
"Even nairaland credited me, yabaleftonline did, 360knobs did, and others even called to seek for my permission.
"This is unacceptable and I will pursue it with vigour. Rubbish.
Ile said he had written the story Saturday on his blog, while Premium Times used it on Monday, urging people to “kindly check and see how these people steal.”
He said he had called Ben Ezeamalu to complain to him, but he (Ezeamalu) prided himself as the original author of the story.
Ile added that the Premium Times reporter had insulted him and called him a fool for ‘stating the fact to him’ instead of apologizing.
“Perhaps they imagine that they are gods in this field. I will sue them with everything I have. Maybe they imagine that I lack the wherewithal. Here we go.” Ile threatened.
Meanwhile, Ile informed on his facebook wall that he had a phone conversation with the head of Premium Times Tuesday morning, Musikilu Mojeed, who he said had instructed that he should be credited for his work.
Our reporter, who visited the link, confirmed that Mike Ile has been duly acknowledged as the original author of the story which Queens College was said to uploaded on its website as a press release.
His words:
"I had a phone conversation with Musikilu Mojeed, the head of premiumtimesng this morning.
"He admitted that he was the one who sent the link for the story from Queens College website to Ben, his staff.
"When I called Ben, he didn't inform me that the QC website used my story as a press statement. Instead, he insisted that he wrote the story by his own hand yesterday morning.
"When I confronted the college, they were respectful enough to offer profuse apologies and also took down the post from their website.
"The Ben character, even upon realizing the truth, offered me only insults, calling me a thief and a fool.
"Musikilu Mojeed has instructed that I be credited for my work, and they have done that, albeit with a proviso. The CEO talked like a gentleman and kept his word. I respect that, and I am honouring his call for decorum.
"I will however pursue legal actions against the Ben character because he acted very unprofessionally by insulting me rather than address my genuine complaint.
"Ignorance is not an excuse in law. After realizing what the truth was, Ben owes me an apology for the insults and discourtesy. Until he does that, my lawyers will do the needful.
"Plagiarism is a huge crime. We must protect our works....and the works of others. People cannot continue to behave in whatever way they like and expect it to be business as usual.
"My profound gratitude to the CEO of premiumtimesng for acting like a CEO. He apologised for the mix up and has given me due credit for my work.
"Mr Ben blocked me on Facebook, then went on to his wall to insult me some more. He has refused to present the true facts to the public. I will take him up on that till justice is achieved."
A message sent to Premium Times' e-mail address, for its reactions, has not been replied as at the time of filing this report.
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