Barely three weeks after the mysterious disappearance of Mr, Tordue Salem, a Vanguard reporter covering legislative activities of the House of Representatives, the Coalition of South East Leaders have scheduled a one million solidarity protest to be staged in Abuja.
In a statement which was signed by the President General of the group, Goodluck Ibem and made available to CAPITAL POST in Abuja, frowned at the silence of the House of Representatives leadership over the sad incident.
The statement reads: “Coalition of South East Youth Leaders, COSEYL, the umbrella body of all the youth groups in the South East geopolitical zone having waited for 7 good day to get positive response from the office of the Inspector General of Police IGP Usman Alkali Baba and other security agencies saddled with the responsibility of protecting Nigerians and their properties which to state that the one man protest match protest will hold on Wednesday 3rd November, 2021 for the missing Vanguard reporter Tordue Salem in Abuja.
“It is very difficult to believe that a journalist on a legitimate duty after closed of work will just go missing. We cannot accept that. He must be found by any means.
“The silence of the Federal House of Representatives leadership on the missing report is not golden.
“Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila is the leader of the Federal House of Representatives and all persons working on the roof of the green chambers are under his care. He is accountable for all activities.
“Ever since the news of the missing Vanguard reporter was made public, the leadership of the Federal House of Representatives have not made any statement or move to ensure the safe return of the journalist.
“It is not a coincidence that a reporter after the close of work, left the green chambers and immediately went missing. Some people were he is working knows his intinerary and aided in his disappearance.
“Though we are not pre-empting the duties of the security agencies, we are very convinced that some people within his workplace knows about the whereabouts of Tordue Salem. We believe that some people are not comfortable with some information at his disposal and they want him to disappear.
“The entire scenario surrounding the sudden disappearance of Tordue Salem looks suspicious. One begin to suspect if his sudden disappearance is related to an information at his disposal.
“We call on all Journalists, youths, Civil Society organizations and all well meaning Nigerians to come out enmase for a protest on Wednesday 3rd November, 2021 for our brother Tordue Salem that is missing.
“We will protest at the Police Force Headquarters, The National Assembly Complex, DSS Headquarters and National Defence Headquarters”, the statement concluded.
