Following last week's harassment and failed abduction of the Ibadan bureau chief of The Punch, Akin Oyedele, members of the Correspondents' Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) in Oyo State have written a letter to the state governor, Adebayo Alao-Akala, intimating him of the incident and others before it.

Entitled "Re: Failed Abduction and Threats to lives of Members", the letter chronicled the attempt by some security aides of the governor to ferry Mr. Oyedele to an unknown place for an undisclosed reason.

Phony arrest

Mr. Oyedele was reportedly accosted by three plain-clothed security men at a cyber café at Agbowo area of Ibadan, on Thursday, April 8, 2010, who asked him to follow them to the Crime Investigation Bureau (CIB) office of the state police command, where they claimed to have come from.

But apart from the fact that the police authorities denied sending anybody for Mr. Oyedele's arrest, a call from the governor's Chief Press Secretary (CPS), Abraham Ojo, to stop the arrest also put a lie to the claim of police's involvement.

"Sir, we would like to re-iterate the fact that we are responsible professionals poised to discharge our duties at all times without prejudice. We take exception to the above incident and the likes, and view them as ploy to intimidate and prevent us from discharging our legitimate duties," the letter read, in part.

Recalling similar cases of intimidation and threats to lives of journalists in the state, the correspondents also, through the letter, formally notified the governor of the recent unpleasant experiences of Messrs Tade Oludayo and Ademola Babalola, Silverbird TV and Compass correspondents respectively, in the hands of some of his overzealous aides.

Commonplace harassment

They expressed worries over the unbridled use of violence against journalists in the state, even as tensions mount over the up-coming general elections.

"We would not have written this letter, but for the fact that such incidents are fast becoming a common place in Oyo state," the journalists' union said. "Now that the elections are coming and the tension is already mounting, we would not want to take chance to avoid being the victims of circumstances in the hands of desperate politicians."

To secure the assurance of the governor on their safety, the journalists made a four-point demand on the governor; which included an explanation of last week's incident and re-orientation of politicians and political appointees of the governor to make them know the difference between journalists and their boss' political opponents.

Meanwhile, Mr. Oyedele has formerly reported the failed abduction to the state commissioner of police, Baba Adisa Bolanta.

In a letter dated April 9, 2010, the The Punch correspondent gave a vivid account of the incident and called on the CP to "order investigation into the matter to unravel the identity of the said three plainclothes policemen and their mission."

Link:

http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/News/National/5554375-147/journalists_petition_oyo_state_over_harassment.csp