VIDEO: Newspaper Vendors in Aba Protests Over Police Arrest, Detention of Members

The Protest took place at NUJ Secretariat Aba. The vendors are protesting over constant intimidation and arrest of its members by the Police command in Aba.

Speaking in a press statement signed by the group’s Chairman and its Secretary, they called the attention of Nigerian Union of Journalist guide of Editors, Newspaper Proprietors Association of Nigeria (NPAN), Human Rights Organizations, Nigeria Bar Association, Federal and State Governments on the constant harassment, intimidations and arrests of their members by the SWART Security Operatives in Aba.

According to the protesting vendors, one of their members arrested by the police is still in detention and the Police had asked them to pay sum of N100,000 for his bail out.

The full statement read…

“A case in hand is the arrest of one of us, Mr. Anthony Acho a 77 years old man who is hypertensive.

“This our member has been in the police custody since 30 May, 2021 at Eziama, Aba North where SWART have office and they have refused to release him to the relations or even allow the family access to where he was to give him his routine hypertension drugs unless they pay the sum of one hundred thousand naira (N100,000.00) for bail which, the family cannot afford.

“We therefore call on the police, the commissioner of information Abia State and other relative authorities to mediate or we will down tools from Monday, the 6th day of June, 2021 till our member is released and adequate compensation paid him and their actions against our member.

“It should be noted that this is another form of gaging the press as we only remain street vendors whose only duty is to dissimulate information to the grassroots, as the last arm of print media information dissemination.