NUJ, CSO give Police, DSS 24 hours to produce missing journalist

By TOYIN ADEBAYO

The Nigerian Police, the Department of State Security (DSS), and other security services have been given a 24-hours deadline to find Mr Tordue Henry Salem, a journalist who went missing on Wednesday last week.

The mandate was announced at a world press conference hosted by the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Chapter, in collaboration with a number of human rights organizations, including the Human Rights Writers Association (HURIWA), Men Against Rape Foundation, and others, on Wednesday afternoon.

The NUJ Chairman, Comrade Emmanuel Ogbeche, told journalists that the Council quickly contacted the Police and other security authorities when the case of Salem was brought to their attention and that he has been following the case up to this point.

He bemoaned the fact that the police and other security authorities have done nothing to find out where the missing Vanguard reporter who covers the National Assembly has gone.

According to Ogbeche, in this digital age, it takes little or no effort to identify a missing individual who has a cell phone and other easy-to-track equipment.

He stated that the security agencies must either deliver Mr Salem or demonstrate to the Council and the Nigerian public that he is not in their custody.

Similar cases have been cited by Comrade Emmanuel Onwumbiko, Chairman of HURIWA, where citizens have been reported missing only to be found by the police after months, if not years, as in the case of Jones Abiri, a journalist who was detained by the police for two years without the knowledge of his family or the public.

Also, Comrade Lemmy Ugheghe of the Men Against Rape Foundation and Comrade Bunmi Haruna of the Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) are among those who attended the conference (Daily Independent)