ACCOMPANIED by a truckload of armed policemen, an official of Nigeria’s Federal Capital Development Agency arrived the secretariat of the Nigerian Union of Journalist on Friday and commenced the demolition of the building, saying he was acting on the orders of the minister of the Federal Capital Territory of Abuja, Mr. Bala Mohammed.
“Nobody can stop me from doing my work, even if you’re the media or whatever you call yourself,” said the official, identified simply as Mr. Bature, the district officer of Utako.
Acting under Bature’s instruction, the policemen who came with him manhandled the journalists present at the scene, including photojournalists whose equipment were seized and badly damaged upon returning them to the journalists.
Two of the journalists, Gbenga Olamikan of the Vanguard newspapers and Rotimi Osasona of the National Mirror, who were badly assaulted by the policemen were later admitted for treatment at a private clinic in Abuja.
The NUJ in a statement said the demolition of structures in its premises is an affront on press freedom and abuse of power by officials of the FCDA, stressing that the Union would pursue the matter until justice is served.
Acting chairman of the Union, Abdulrasheed Abdulkareem, who signed the statement, described the incident as unfortunate and one of the many sad developments against journalists in the country.
Abdulkareem listed items lost in the unfortunate incident to include: six transparent fridges, a four feet Thermocool freezer, a 32-inch LCD television set and several plastic chairs and tables. Other items include several crates of drinks, glasses and a stereo set.
The acting chairman informed that the Union would protest for the Development Agency to compensate for all that were lost during the demolition while calling for the sanction of the officer who ordered that journalists be assaulted.
In the past, journalists in Abuja had witnessed a similar garrulous resort to demolition of their landed property, similarly on the orders of higher officials of the Federal Capital Territory. Such targeting of journalists by successive FCT leadership lends credence to the belief in some quarters that powerful people in Abuja want to whittle the presence and influence of journalists in the capital city.
A case in point was the demolition of the building of the Abuja Chapter of the Nigerian Union of Journalist at Wuse Zone 5 a few years ago, purportedly on the basis of adhering to the Abuja Master Plan. The plot was later re-awarded to a member of the harem of the then-FCT minister, Mr. Nasir el-Rufai, thereby rubbishing the claim of bringing sanity and order to the development of the capital city.