How Council Chairman’s thugs ‘beat up journalist’ in Delta

by S’ola Filani

The Vanguard Reporter, Akpokona Omafuare being manhandled by thugs of the Udu Council Boss

Mr. Raymond Edijala, chairman of Udu Local Government Area Transition Committee, Delta State, has allegedly attacked a Vanguard Newspapers Senior Photographer, Akpokona Omafuaire, for daring to say that the council boss was carrying out selective illegal caravan destruction during the special environmental Sanitation ordered by the State Special Sanitation Committee.

The ugly incident reportedly occurred at Ovwian Community while the committee members were on enforcement drive.

The Udu Council Transition Chairman and his thugs allegedly rained verbal insult and physical assault on the Vanguard Reporter and ordered him to leave the council area and never to come back again.

But for the timely intervention of the Chairman of the Sanitation Task Force Chief Frank Omare and other members of the Committee who came to save the situation from degenerating, the Chairman’s thugs were already spoiling for war.

Narrating his ordeal in the hands of the council boss and his thugs, Omafuaire said, “I was in company of other journalists along with the committee leadership to see the level of compliance, when we got to Udu, residents were complaining that the Council Chairman (Edijala) was carrying out selective illegal caravan destruction and Omare ordered that all illegal structures there be pulled down against the wish of Edijala.

“As I chatted with a colleague that the state government is ready to crush all illegal structures, Edijala pounced on me saying, ‘who are you? What are you saying; this is my council, get out here now.”

“Before I could say Jack Robinson, he seized me, called me idiot, foolish, and shoved me that I must go back, all my efforts to explain to him fell on deaf ears. Next thing I saw he seized an iron rake and made an effort to shatter my head with it. A colleague seized it from him as his political thugs threatened that they will kill me if they see me in Udu again.

“Edijala boasted that he does not want to ever see me in Udu again as his boys pushed and hit me on the back while Chief Omare, Chief Ben Igbakpa, Chief Olori Magege, Michael Ikeogwu, NUJ Warri Correspondents Chapel Chairman and others battled hard to extricate me from their holds. The timely intervention of Omare, military, journalists and others saved me, as the thugs gathered to wreck havoc.”

Edijala is yet to make public his side of the story.

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