Journalists in Ogun State have threatened to stop reporting activities of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, and those of other workers’ unions for assaulting their members in Abeokuta on Tuesday, June 28, 2022.
Reporters covering the ongoing industrial action in the State were attacked and assaulted by labour leaders enforcing compliance at the State Hospital, Ijaye, Abeokuta.
Daud Olatunji of Punch Newspaper, Joke Adeleye of PM News, Michael Olaoluwa and Tutu Sobowale of Platform Times and others were attacked by the labour leaders, despite showing them their Identity Cards as journalists.
Reacting, the Young Media Practitioners of Nigeria said it was saddening to see that supposed “educated career officers at different government parastatals have turned to thugs.”
The young journalists described as barbaric the fact that the same set of people obstructed other professionals from performing their constitutional duties.
“How on earth can they get the attention of the government without media support? How on earth can they win the battle without the involvement of the media?” They queried.
According to a statement made available to Daily Post by its National President, Michael Azeez-Ogunsiji, the association said the act of beating their colleagues after showing their identity cards meant the government still needed to flush out many people disguised as thugs from the State civil service.
“The association condemns in its entirety, the unprovoked attack by the labour leaders,” Azeez-Ogunsiji said.
Making demands, the journalists requested that the NLC and its other sister bodies should tender unreserved apology to the journalists in the State through a letter to the NUJ leadership in the State and such letters should be published and broadcast through print media, online, radio and TV stations.
They demanded that the culprits be fished out and be handed over to the police for assault, causing public unrest and attempted murder.
The group also asked that the NLC should get new gadgets for those whose gadgets got lost or destroyed during the attack.
“Failure to do any of this within 48 hours will force us to order all our members to stop reporting the activities of NLC. We may take this up through legal means and seek redress in a competent court.
“We hope our demands are meant or we will end all the existing relationship between us and the NLC. We will also declare the members of the union ‘persona non grata’ in our midst,” they warned.
