The Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Enugu State Council, has condemned Wednesday attack by gunmen on some journalists on local government election duty in the state.
The Chairman, Comrade Sam Udekwe, disclosed this on Wednesday in a statement in Enugu.
A team of four reporters from Enugu State Broadcasting Service (ESBS) and one from the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) ran into the gunmen at Obeagu, Enugu South Local Government Area.
The gunmen who were masked came with Sienna and Toyota Highlander vehicles and shot sporadically, scaring away voters, election officials, observers and journalists.
As the gunmen turned their attention to the oncoming ESBS branded bus on election duty, most of the journalists in the bus scampered for safety.
However, one of the reporters, Chigozie Alex-Nwafor and the bus driver, Mr Ebuka Ogbozor, were held back in the bus but released after receiving machete cuts.
The state NUJ chairman described the unprovoked attack as “morally reprehensible” and an incident that must be condemned by every Nigerian.
“I find it inexplicable that journalists have suddenly become endangered species even while discharging their constitutional duties.
“This type of act against innocent citizens must not be allowed to take roots in the society,” he said.
Udekwe appealed to security agencies in the state to be alive to their responsibilities of protecting lives and security.
He also called on the Enugu State Independent Electoral Commission and the media organisations whose reporters were injured to pay commensurate compensations to all the victims.
“Journalists should also have it at the back of their minds that they must be alive to report. Therefore, our safety should always be our utmost concern each time we are in the field,” Udekwe said.
The local government elections held on Wednesday at the 17 council areas of the state.
Meanwhile, Mr Ndubuisi Enechi-Onyia, the state Chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) has blamed poor planning by the state electoral body for the low turnout of voters.
Enechi-Onyia made this known in Enugu on Wednesday while reacting to the conduct of the Local Government elections by the Enugu State Independent Electoral Commission (ENSIEC).
According to him, publicity for the election on the part of ENSIEC was poor as many people were not aware there was an election.
“Those who knew, did not know the date. Besides, the election was wrongly timed as it came up on a working day for the first time and that was why many went for their daily businesses.
“Moreover, the Local Government Council system in this state is nothing to write home about as people do not feel its impact.
“So they stayed at home because they did not know the candidates contesting the elections,” he said.
The APGA chairman expressed dismay at what happened at the polls, saying “what happened was not qualified to be an election”.
He said that the party participated to gather concrete evidence to challenge the election after reviewing all that transpired before, during and after the election.
“As far as I am concerned, there are 18 Political Parties that registered for the election and the ballot paper used indicated more than 80 parties.
“The ballot paper they showed me was for 2020 election likewise the result sheet; in fact, everything was so muddled up. So, we will challenge it.
“The reason we participated was to challenge it because, we know that ENSIEC was not ready for the election,” he said.
He, however, expressed happiness over the enthusiasm shown by the elderly of his community in Obioma in Udi LGA to express their franchise.
