THE Federal Capital Territory (FCT) chapter of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) and the Conference of Benue Journalists have tasked the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mr Usman Baba, and other security agencies to do all in their power to find Vanguard reporter, Mr Tordue Salem, who went missing since Wednesday, October 13, 2021.
Mr Salem, covers the House of Representatives for the Vanguard. He was reportedly last seen in Garki District of the FCT on October 13 before his “alleged” disappearance.
The FCT branch of NUJ on Sunday said that Mr Salem’s sudden disappearance is an extension of the deteriorating state of insecurity in the nation’s capital and again questions the efficiency of the country’s security operatives.
It urged all security agencies to live up to their responsibility by solving the reporter’s mysterious disappearance in due time.
“For all of us journalists in Abuja, we have been on edge these past few days over the mysterious disappearance of our colleague and friend, Mr. Tordue Salem.
“It is worrying that an adult will simply vanish into thin air without a trace. This is unacceptable and we urge the police and DSS to rise up to the occasion and provide answers to this troubling situation,” stated a statement by Mr Emmanuel Ogbeche and Mr Ochiaka Ugwu, the Abuja NUJ Chairman and Secretary respectively.
Similarly, the Conference of Benue Journalists (CBJ), in a statement Monday said journalists, like every other citizen, need the assurance of protection of security operatives to help in the discharge of their role in a democratic dispensation.
The CBJ President, Anule Emmanuel, noted that like every other citizen, journalists in Abuja and the country at large require full protection as they go about their lawful duties of informing members of the public without fear of molestation, intimidation, and harassment.
He called on fellow journalists and family members of Mr Salem to be “prayerful, and remain calm while the search effort is on to establish his whereabouts.”
