NUJ Condemns Attack on Female Pregnant Journalist, Others in Ebonyi

Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) on Wednesday condemned the attack on journalists covering the ongoing screening of commissioner nominees in Ebonyi State House of Assembly by political thugs numbering over 40 with dangerous weapons.

The thugs, who were allegedly led by the member representing Afikpo South West state constituency in the assembly, Nkemka Onuma, allegedly assaulted a pregnant female journalist, Mrs. Grace Egbo of Tribune Newspapers, and also inflicted injuries on Ogochukwu Anioke of the Nation Newspapers and Samson Nwafor of the Pilot Newspapers while other journalists scampered for safety through the high perimeter fencing of the assembly complex.

Onuma, during the incident, threatened to prevent journalists from covering the state assembly, describing them as touts.

THISDAY gathered that the trouble started when journalists accosted one commissioner nominee, Stanley Okoro, to give more clarification on the controversial disparity of his educational certificate, which generated ripples during the screening by the members of the state House of Assembly.

Onuma started shouting at journalists to stop the interview with the nominee who hails from his constituency, which attracted his thugs to start attacking journalists at sight.

After attacking the journalists, the thugs also held one of them, Anioke, hostage inside the assembly premises by ordering the gateman to lock the gate as he made to drive out of the assembly complex in Abakaliki, the state capital.

It took the intervention of the state Chairman of NUJ, Tony Nwizi, to prevent further attack on the journalists and vandalisation of their vehicles by forcefully opening the entrance gate from which they escaped.

Reacting to the attack on the journalists, National President of NUJ,

Christopher Isiguzo, who condemned Onuma’s action and the thugs, demanded apology for their action.

He also ordered that the medical bills of the victims should be taken care of by the lawmaker.

“I am yet to get the full details of what really happened in Ebonyi State House of Assembly, but if what we read is anything to go by, it is shocking and totally unbecoming for an honourable member of the assembly to have abandoned his legislative duty to begin to unleash mayhem on innocent journalists in the state.

“It is totally unacceptable to us, and we demand that the Ebonyi State

House of Assembly should not just apologise to these people who were manhandled, they should also make sure that they take care of their hospital bill because I learnt that one or two of those people are already in the hospital. They should also assure us of their safety in the House of Assembly.

“There is no way the legislature, which is of course part of the ingredients of democracy, would still be the one to cause harm to journalists in the state. So, the attack is totally unacceptable and the House of Assembly should do the needful,” he stated.

On the threat to prevent journalists from covering activities of the assembly, Isiguzo said: “The lawmaker in question does not have powers to stop journalists from covering the assembly as he threatened. It is a public place and does not belong to that particular lawmaker or even the Speaker. It is a public institution and they don’t have the right or such powers to bar any journalist from covering the state House of Assembly.