By Ismail Auwal
Armed thugs on Thursday broke into the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Press Centre in Gusau, and beat the council chairman, Ibrahim Musa Maizare, to a pulp.
The thugs reportedly arrived at at the press centre around 11 a.m with sticks and threatened to deal with other journalists in the state.
The violence erupted after the Union’s chairman, ordered workers at the NUJ Shops Complex at the Union’s Secretariat to stop ongoing renovations.
According to him, the building will be used as a campaign office for one of the political parties.
The building was initially hired as a restaurant but after the tenant left the business it was converted into a campaign office by the thugs.
When a team of police arrived at the NUJ Secretariat, the thugs continued to haul insults at the officials and other members of the union forcing the police to quickly leave the place.
Addressing, newsmen shortly after the incident, the Secretary of the union, Ibrahim Ahmad Gada, urged the security agencies to protect the lives and property of journalists adding that the lives of working journalists in the state are seriously in danger.
“If armed thugs can threaten to kill working journalists what do you expect? The safety of all working journalists must be guaranteed.
“We are calling on all the stakeholders to intervene. How can a thug dictate the way we can use our property in the state,” Gada lamented.
