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By Raymond Gukas, Jos
The Nigeria Union of Journalists, (NUJ), Plateau State Council has condemned the attack on its members while on an official engagement in Namu, Quan Pan Local Government Area of the state.
The union expressed its position during a press conference addressed by the chairman, Comrade Paul Jatau at the union secretariat in Jos, the state capital.
According to him, “while no life was lost, the Union’s Hummer Bus donated by the Plateau State Government was burnt down”.
About 14 of their members were accompanying Senator Nora Dadu’ut representing Plateau South Senatorial District to commision senatorial projects when hoodlums barricaded the highway and destroyed their vehicles which include the security van of the Senator.
He said, “the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Plateau State Council condemns the unwarranted and unprovoked attack on its members who were there to serve the 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 action. We indeed, call on government to come down hard on the perpetrators as Namu has become a hotbed of violence and criminality and the state cannot be afford to continue on that path”, he stressed.
Lamenting the situation, he stressed that the action has “robbed the Union of a vehicle to carry out its activities” which will affect its operations.
The attacked occurred after the Senator commissioned an ICT Hub/E-Library.
It was gathered that the attackers claimed that four of their members were arrested by armed security men while the programme was ongoing and this angered them and subsequently demanded that they be freed.
They held the Senator and the journalists captive for over three hours before men of Operation Safe Haven intervened.
