Senate Issues Strong Directive To IGP Over Missing Journalist

• The inspector general of police have been called upon to institute a special investigation into the disappearance of a Nigerian journalist
• The call was made by lawmakers of the Nigerian Senate on Tuesday, November 9, after a point of order
• Senator Orker-Jev Emmanuel Yisa who represents Benue northwest senatorial district said Tordue Salem has been missing since October 13

Abuja - The Nigerian Senate on Tuesday, November 9, urged the inspector general of police, Usman Baba, to set up a special investigation on the whereabouts of a Nigerian journalist, Tordue Salem, who was last seen on October 13.

The Senate said that the IGP should as a matter of urgency launch a special investigation to ascertain the circumstances surrounding the whereabouts of Salem.

A resolution was tabled after a point of order raised by Senator Orker-Jev Emmanuel Yisa, the lawmaker representing Benue northwest senatorial district.

Read also

Chaos as police officer shoots 4 colleagues dead, injures 3 others

Formally informing lawmakers of the senate on the disappearance of the journalist

Yisa said he wanted to draw the attention of the Senate to the disappearance of the journalist who covered the Green Chambers of the National Assembly for the Vanguard Newspaper.

Relying on orders 42 and 52 of the Senate Rules, Yisa said that Tordue Salem, before going missing, was a journalist with the Vanguard newspaper covering the House of Representatives.

The senator said that Salem has been missing since October 13, 2021, between 8-9 pm and all phone contact with him ceased including other efforts to reach out to him.

He said that efforts by his family, friends and colleagues to uncover his whereabouts or what may have happened to the journalist has since been futile.

However, he noted that he is optimistic that with the intervention of the Senate, the police may be better persuaded to get to the root of his disappearance.

Read also

UNIABUJA attack: Police debunk claim of victims' rescue

Finding succour for family, friends and colleagues of Salem

The lawmaker said these an outcome of a special investigation by the police through the intervention of the IGP could help alleviate the anxiety of all concerned.

Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that Nigerian journalists on Monday, October 25, took to the streets of Abuja to protest the disappearance of Salem

The journalists under a parent body of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), Federal Capital Territory chapter marched from the union's secretariat to the Force Headquarters at Area 11.

Meeting with Frank Mba, the force public relations officer, the journalists called for the intervention of the IGP in the disappearance of Salem.

The chairman of the FCT chapter of the NUJ, Emmanuel Obeche, who spoke on behalf of the journalists also demanded an immediate transfer of the case from the FCT command to IGP's special unit.

Read also

Odili: Finally Supreme Court reacts, blasts masterminds of raid, says attack despicable, shameful

Source: Legit.ng