The Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) FCT Chapter, on Monday, embarked on a peaceful protest to the Nigeria Police Force Headquarters, Abuja, over the disappearance of Tordue Salem, the Vanguard Newspaper correspondent at the House of Representatives.
The journalists were seen carrying placards that read; “BringBackTordueAlive”, “FreeTordueSalem”, “JournalismIsNotAcrime”, and so on.
The Chairman of the FCT Council of the NUJ, Mr Emmanuel Ogbeche, who led the protest lamented that since the disappearance of Tordue who went missing just few metres away from the force headquarters on 13th October, 2021, nothing reasonable has been done by the Police despite a report incidented at the House of Reps Police Division barely 48 hours after his disappearance and a subsequent petition to the office of the inspector General of Police by NUJ FCT council.
Mr. Ogbeche charged the Police to do everything humanly possible to ensure the safe release of the Vanguard journalist.
He demanded that the case be transferred to a special unit of the police under the office of the IGP, and that the NPF hold a confidential briefing with the family of Tordue, the leadership of the Union and his employers to calm frayed nerves.
Responding, the Inspector General of Police, Usman Alkali Baba, revealed that the case of the missing journalist was already with them and that investigation was ongoing to unravel the circumstances surrounding his disappearance.
The IGP who was represented by Force Public Relations officer, Frank Mba, assured that the missing journalist would be found and returned alive.
Meanwhile, the immediate past Chief Press Secretary to Benue State Governor, Terver Akase, has commended the NUJ for its show of solidarity in marching for the freedom of the Benue-born journalist.
Akase who gave the commendation via his official Facebook page of Monday, pleaded with Tordue’s abductors to release him for the sake of his young family.
He wrote; “I join our colleagues in Abuja to call for the safe return of Tordue Salem. Kudos to all journalists in the FCT and other parts of the country who have joined the Free-Tordue march.
We plead with whoever is keeping Tordue to think about his young family, feel their pain and let him go home to meet them.”
