From Gyang Bere, Jos
It was a pathetic and traumatic experience for 14 journalists in the convoy of the senator representing Plateau South, Prof. Nora Ladi Dadu’ut, when they were attacked by an angry mob immediately after inaugurating an ICT hub/e-library in Namu community of Quaanpan Local Government Area of the state. The project was constructed by the senator as one of her constituency projects in the LGA.
The hoodlums held the senator hostage along with her husband for more than three hours, throwing stones and hitting her car with sticks and other weapons.
Journalists who were in the convoy abandoned their cars in the heat of the protest and trekked for kilometres in the bush in an unknown terrain with no help coming their way. Some of them who were apparently too tired to walk further kept pushing ahead to a supposed safer location.
Having escaped from the angry mob through the bush and walked a distance, the journalists were also faced with threat of kidnappers and bandits, who operate freely around the neighbourhood.
The reporters felt abandoned when their branded Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) bus was set ablaze with valuables inside, leaving them at the mercy of God. In fact, they escaped by the whiskers.
The senator’s official car was also vandalised at the scene and her pilot car burnt.
It took the intervention of troops of Operation Safe Haven who were mobilized by the commander, Major General Ibrahim Ali, from neighbouring town to rescue the senator unhurt.
Traditional rulers who were in the convoy negotiated their way out of the scene, leaving behind the press bus and the pilot car already blocked with stones and logs of wood, which were later burnt down.
It took divine intervention for the 14 journalists to survive the incident. They will forever remain grateful to a truck driver whom God used to convey them out of the bush though it was still not easy getting to Jos, their destination.
The truck driver only succeeded in conveying them out of the troubled zone to a neighbouring village. They trekked a few more kilometres before getting a vehicle that took them to Jos.
The ugly incident has been widely condemned by respected citizens of Plateau State. Top among them was the governor of state, Simon Lalong, who expressed outrage over the attack.
Lalong sympathized with Senator Dadu’ut and the journalists.
The attack, which was said to be unrelated to the launch of the project, was alleged to have been orchestrated by hoodlums who were said to have been angered by the arrest of a suspected wanted kidnap kingpin by security agencies, and thus decided to vent their anger on passersby and any innocent person they encountered.
Lalong said the act was despicable and directed security agencies to conduct thorough investigation into the matter and ensure that the culprits were fished out and brought to justice.
The chairman of NUJ, Plateau State Council, Paul Jatau, who addressed the press, condemned the attack and urged security agencies to fish out the perpetrators.
He described the attack as unfortunate and asked journalists to stop covering activities outside Jos until adequate security is provided for their safety.
“The Nigeria Union of Journalists, Plateau State Council, condemns the unwarranted and unprovoked attack on its members who were there to serve society. We wonder why journalists are being targeted while carrying out their legitimate duties.
“We, therefore, call on security agencies to fish out the perpetrators of the dastardly act and punish them accordingly to serve as deterrent to others contemplating such actions.
“We call on government to come down hard on the perpetrators as Namu has become a hotbed of violence and criminality and the state cannot afford to continue on that path. The situation has robbed the union of a vehicle to carry out its activities,” he said.
He gave the names of those who escaped the attack as Peter Amine, News Agency of Nigeria (NAN); Gyang Bere, The Sun; Isaac Shobayo, Tribune; Audu Ojogbane, Daily Independent; Kolade Adeyemi, The Nation; Achor Abimaje, Leadership; and Pam Musa Telegraph. Others are Marie-Therese Nanlong, Vanguard; Babatunde Ajayi, Silverbird; Bishop Milton, Silverbird cameraman; Nanmwa Golok, Nigerian Pilot; Kingsley Chukwuka, Daily Times; Alex Mangar, PRTVC; and the driver, Mr. John.
Similarly, zonal vice president, NUJ, Zone D, Chris Atsaka, condemned the attack and appealed to government to replace the burnt vehicle and compensate the journalists. The NUJ leadership decried the mob action, which put the journalists as well as the senator in harm’s way.
He said: “While commending the effort of the Plateau State government in condemning the dastardly act and the steps taken so far to contain the security situation in the area, the leadership urges the government to urgently compensate the journalists that have been affected, to deal with the trauma they may have been through, and passionately appeals for a new bus to be given to the NUJ council, to replace the burnt one.”
The senator representing Plateau Central, Hezekiah Ayuba Dimka, condemned the attack and asked that the perpetrators of the act be fished out and punished.
He praised the security measures put in place to address the situation and said, over the years, journalists have been attacked, and in some cases maimed and killed for carrying out their legitimate duties.
Dimka wondered how society could be better informed if newsmen were not allowed to carry out such functions.