Nigeria: NUJ Spoils For War With Police

THE reign of peace and mutual cooperation that have been existing between the Nigeria Police, Rivers State Command, and journalists in the state since the abortion of military rule in 1999, seems to be over. Some superior officers and men of the police on Tuesday, May 29 unleashed acts of terror on five journalists at the Liberation Stadium, Port Harcourt, the capital city of Nigeria's Rivers, a key oil and gas-producing state.

The five journalists--Nnadozie Oshigbo of the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN), David Amusa of the National Mirror, Julius Ogba of the Statesman, Eddie Williams, editor of The Envoy, a local weekly, and Grace Ekang of Channels Television-- were at the stadium to cover the swearing-in ceremony of Sir Celestine Omehia, as the new governor of the state.

Secretary of the Correspondents Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Rivers State Council, Joe Ezuma, told our correspondent on Friday that the brutalisation of the journalists by the police was a deliberate act. According to him, ''the police men were not persuaded even when the assaulted journalists properly identified themselves''

Already, the union has filed a formal protest to the Police Commissioner, Felix Ogbaudu, demanding for an apology. The union says if the police fails to play ball by Monday, June 4, 2007 the command will have themselves to blame.

The NUJ says they are seeing the barbaric act of the police men involved, as a creeping return of the old repressive order under the military dictatorship.

Chairman of the Correspondents Chapel, Lawson Heyford, said the union has every reason to suspect that the police command does no longer mean well for journalists in the state. Their anger however, stems from the fact that the acts of terror on the five journalists was allegedly encouraged by the Port Harcourt Area Commander, Titi Busari, an assistant commissioner of police (ACP). He was said to be ably assisted by the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) in-charge of Olu Obasanjo, Ade Aderemi, a chief superintendent of police (CSP)

The union is also indicting the image-maker of the command, Ireju Barasua, a deputy superintendent of police (DSP) for doing nothing to rescue the journalists. ''Ireju Barasua was watching the dehumanisation of the journalists helplessly'', the union said.

According to the union, the journalists were beaten up, flogged, some got their shirts torn and verbally abused. ''The timely intervention of the DPO of Trans-Amadi Police Station, Emma Egbuka, saved the situation from being bloody. He scolded the overzealous police.

While condemning the ''ineptitude of the Ireju Barasua, as the image-maker of the police command, the union also called on the police commissioner to redeploy all the officers who were involved ''in the show of shame at the stadium''..

ENDS

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