Tuesday, July 13, 2010


Photo: Sun News Publishing
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Members of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Ogun State Council, who narrowly escaped being abducted by kidnappers last Sunday, have narrated how they beat the hoodlums. The journalists described their escape as the handiwork of God.

The Secretary of the council, Comrade Wole Shokunbi, who spoke on behalf of the state Chairman, Comrade Tunde Sodeke, and Comrade Yemi Akintunde, urged the Federal Government to rise quickly to the plights of their members who are currently in the kidnappers’ den.

Shokunbi, said they were driving to Aba along with other members of the union from Kwara and Delta states when they ran into the kidnappers who suddenly emerged from a bush about five kilometres to Aba.
“Immediately, they double-crossed our vehicle with their own. Initially, we thought they were armed robbers, but our driver meandered through the blockade and soon after we left the scene, the kidnappers one-by-one jumped from their vehicle and shot the rear tyre of our vehicle.

“Despite our punctured tyre, we managed to speed off until we got to a nearby village from where we lsaw an old man who was on his way with his family to the day’s church service.
“But our colleagues, particularly those from Lagos who were also travelling in their council’s space wagon behind us were not so lucky as the hoodlums caught up with them after our narrow escape. Within a twinkle of an eye, they had ordered them out of their vehicle and marched them inside their hideout.

“When we got to the village, we were lucky to have met an old man in his early 60’s who was about to gauge his tyre. We approached him for a ride to Aba. Because of our psychological trauma, we could not inform him of our plight until we got to Aba when we told him what had happened to us.
Shokunbi further stated: “When we got to Aba, we reported the unfortunate incident to the Divisional Police station. The Divisional Police officer immediately swung into action by ordering his officers and men to visit the scene of the incident.

“In our company, the policemen came to the scene with two tyres and immediately fixed our punctured tyres. We returned to the DPO’s office from where we contacted the Commissioners for Information in Akwa Ibom and Abia states.”
He further told Daily Sun that one of the commissioners got in touch with the Abia State Commissioner of Police while the NUJ National President, Comrade Mohammed Garba, who they had earlier contacted also got in touch with the Inspector-General of Police.

Meanwhile, the National President of the Radio, Television and Theatre Workers Union (RATTAWU), Comrade Yemisi Bamgbose, had warned of an impending nationwide strike by members of the union if the abducted journalists were not released within the next 24 hours.
Bamgbose, who spoke with Daily Sun in Abeokuta, described the abduction of the journalists as unfortunate, disheartening and national embarrassment.
“We have put our people on red alert as from Wednesday (tomorrow) to begin an indefinite industrial action to register our protest .”

both at the Federal and at the state levels to the unholy trade.
“The way kidnapping is going in the country, certainly, it will destroy the entire society because nobody or group of people will be willing to go to that part of the country for any meeting or any business for that matter.
“Gradually the unholy trade of kidnapping is degenerating into a situation where serious conflict will surely arise. We are embarking on the strike to call the attention of those in authorities and the international community to the crime,” he stated.

As long as their useless strike dose not affect Cable T.V, they can strike for all we care