Journalists on the platform of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), FCT Council, on Monday, October 25, 2021, stormed the Police Headquarters in Abuja, to protest the mysterious disappearance of their colleague, Tordue Salem, who reports for Vanguard Newspapers.
The journalists carried placards with inscriptions such as ‘Free Tordue now’, ‘Enough is enough’, ‘Stop violence against journalists’, ‘Free the press,’ ‘Journalists’ lives matter’ among others, sang “We want Tordue back alive,” amongst others.
Chairman, NUJ, FCT council, Emmanuel Ogbeche, while addressing the journalists at the gate of the Police Headquarters, said all they wanted was for IGP Alkali Baba to come and state what the Force was doing about Tordue’s disappearance.
He said the Police boss must put all necessary apparatus in place to find Tordue Salem alive so he can reunite with his family.
“Keep faith,” he urged the journalists, “be law abiding as it is not time to fight or be violent.”
It was reported that Tordue slept in his sister’s house on October 12, left for the National Assembly on October 13, and was last seen by colleagues on the beat between 4pm and 5pm that same day.
His disappearance was reported to the Police on the 15th, with the IGP giving instruction that no human or material resources should be spared in investigating the case.
At the time of filing this report, Frank Mba the Police spokesman, was addressing the journalists on behalf of the IGP.