A journalist, Elder Emmanuel Ogoigbe, is lying ill in an hospital in Warri, the commercial nerve centre of Delta State as he was brutalized by soldiers attached to the 3 Battalion Effurun of the Nigerian Army.
Ogoigbe, who is the Warri Correspondent of the SUN Newspaper, was reportedly tortured by the soldiers at a checkpoint in Okoribi Quarters, Off Uti Street, Effurun, for voluntarily alerting them of a possible break down of law and order when miscreants took over the area.
Recounting his experience, he said that he was flogged by the soldiers led by one Staff Sergeant O. Joseph, and he was further forced to drink and swim in a stagnant drainage water for daring to ‘‘teach them their work’’.
According to him, the humiliation continued until he became unconscious before good Samaritans rushed him to a private clinic for medical attention.
While reacting on the incident, the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), Warri Correspondents Chapel has issued a seven-day ultimatum to Chief of Army Staff and the Commander, 3 Battalion Effurun to apologize to the victim and journalists in the state.
Rising from an emergency meeting in Warri, the chapel condemned the harassment of the journalist by the soldiers in the course of doing his official and lawful duty.
This is contained in statement signed by Chapel’ s Chairman and Secretary, Michael Ikeogwu, and Akpokona Omafuaire, respectively, describing the attack as un warranted, calling on the Nigerian Army to sanction the soldiers who perpetrated the ‘‘despicable act.’’
“We want to state our displeasure on the unwarranted attack on our colleague who was only carrying out his constitu tional duties of collaborating with security agencies in the country to forestall the breakdown of law and order.
“We vehemently frown at the situation whereby military personnel who are meant to protect lives and property turnaround and begin to brutalize, molest and sometimes kill the people they are meant to protect’’, the statement reads.
The NUJ Warri Correspondents chapel, also called on the Chief of Army Staff and the Commander, 3 Battalion to investigate the matter with the view to calling the masterminds to order to forestall a re-occurrence of the act.
In the same vein, Norbert Chiazor, Chairman, Delta State Council of the NUJ, described as unacceptable attack on any journalist for whatever reason, noting that the era of military brutalism was over.
“We want to make it clear that we are no longer in a military era where soldiers maim and kill innocent citizens at will. The NUJ will no longer stand and fold its hands and watch the military maim and kill the people they have sworn to protect,” Delta NUJ chairman added.
