By Princess Simon (Bureau Chief North Central)
The Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) Niger state Council, has given the state government a one-week ultimatum to expedite action towards immediate release and safe return of 136 pupils of islamiyya and other hostages still languishing in the den of their abductors.
The union also wants the state government to immediately disband the task force saddled with the responsibility of enforcing the ban on commercial motorcycles for operating beyond their scope of operations, including being brutal or use of excessive force which has resulted in the death of about three persons and imprisonment of innocent citizens, including journalists.
The ultimatum was contained in a communique issued at the end of the NUJ meeting which was jointly signed by George Duniya and Uthman Siraja, Chairman and Secretary of the communique drafting committee respectively. The NUJ wants the state government to also apply the same zeal used in rescuing the Governor’s mother, the zonal chairman of the All Progressive Congress (APC) and the Commissioner for Information and Strategy in rescuing the children and other hostages still in the armed bandit's den.
The journalists union wondered why the state government is "creating an impression that some persons are inferior to others", adding that "it is said that for almost three months the children are still held captive while many have died due to harsh weather conditions they were exposed to.
“Niger state police command claimed that the commissioner for information was released when the combined security force trailed the kidnappers, the same strategy should be deployed to secure the release of others still in captivity especially the Tagina islamiyya school children who have spent about three months”.
Farmers no longer go to their farms for fear of being killed and people are dying daily out of hunger caused by the high cost of available foods in the market. This, according to the NUJ, needed urgent attention, hence the call on the state government to act.
While expressing gratitude to God for sparing the lives of the Commissioner and the APC Chieftain, the union challenged the Abubakar Sani Bello-led government to live up to its responsibilities of protecting the lives and properties of the citizenry in the state.
On the activities of a task force to end operations of commercial motorcycles (Okada), the journalists want the state government to immediately call the task force and others confiscating plate numbers from people’s cars at the market to order others to avoid a possible breakdown of law and order.
The ten-point communique also indicates that “The taskforce using excessive force and brutality, now terrorize innocent people and hounding them into prison including a journalist living in Koropma who was arrested and detained for attempting to record their activities in Koropma.
"Some people who committed no offense are sometimes pursued to their homes and in some cases beaten without reason except that they were found along the route the task force was operating. Some shops were also being looted and the NUJ wants an immediate halt to this ugly trend to avoid throwing the state into chaos", said the communique.
The union is also worried about the deplorable state of infrastructure, the road network in particular, and therefore called on Governor Bello-led APC administration to ensure speedy completion of the Chanchaga-Minna road, Mandella road, the market roads, and the abandoned, Dutsen Kura-Gwari road. NNL.
