Less than 24 hours after the discovery of the remains of Tordue Salem, a reporter with Vanguard newspaper declared missing about a month ago, the Deputy President of the Senate, Ovie Omo-Agege, has charged the Nigeria Police and other relevant security agencies to unmask those behind the death of the journalist.
Omo-Agege, who gave this charge in a statement signed by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Yomi Odunuga, expressed regret over the incident, urging the Nigeria Police and other relevant agencies to go the whole hog to unmask the killers.
Salem, who until his sudden disappearance was covering the House of Representatives, was said to have closed from work and headed home but never got home.
The reporter’s body was reportedly found in Abuja in the late hours of Thursday, November 12. He was alleged to have been knocked down by a hit-and-run vehicle.
Omo-Agege, who is representing Delta Central Senatorial District in the Nigerian Senate, noted that the fact that one Itoro Clement, a commercial driver, was paraded for allegedly knocking down and killing the journalist, has raised further questions and suspicions on the circumstances of his death.
Noting that the death of the journalist was one too many, Omo-Agege said unravelling the mystery behind Salem’s death was capable of shedding light on the myriad of unresolved murders of journalists in their line of duty over the years.
He said: “The news of the killing of Mr. Tordue Henry Salem came to me as a rude shock, especially as it came barely 48 hours after the Senate and House of Representatives passed separate resolutions tasking security agencies to intensify efforts to find him and reunite him with his family.
“I am particularly worried that this is happening at the heart of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). Reports abound of kidnappings and other security breaches in the nation’s capital.
“While we await further briefing from the police on who deposited Tordue’s corpse in the morgue and when it was deposited, the sad development has added to the list of unresolved killings of journalists like Dele Giwa, founding Editor-in-Chief of Newswatch magazine; Godwin Agbroko of ThisDay; Bagauda Kaltho of (The News); Bayo Ohu (The Guardian); Edo Sule Ugbagwu (The Nation) and Abayomi Ogundeji (ThisDay), who were all murdered in the course of discharging their constitutional duties.
“I extend my condolences to the family, friends and associates of the deceased, the government and people of Benue State, the Vanguard family, House of Representatives Press Corps, Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) and pray God to give them the fortitude to bear this irreparable loss.”
