Journalists Appreciate God For Saving Abducted Colleague

Tuesday would go down
as a memorable day of mixed joy and sober reflection for journalists in Abia State who had gathered for a thanksgiving service for the release of their colleague, Mr. Ugochukwu Eke, the state correspondent for The Nation newspapers, from the hands of kidnappers.
Led by the officiating minister, Rev Ernest Onyeukwu of the Methodist Church, journalists rent the air with songs of praise at the NUJ Press Centre during the service. They were all in an exultant mood as one of their own, who had been abducted, was back and reintegrated among them.
However, by the time the journalist narrated his ordeal in the hands of the hoodlums, the mood of the service changed. He said on the fateful day of November 16, 2014, he was abducted in front of his house and whisked away after he had returned from buying diapers for his baby, adding that his family members were unaware of what had happened to him.
According to him, after driving for some time, the kidnappers veered off the main road, dragged him out and compelled him to trek inside the bush for five hours barefooted and blindfolded until they reached a location where he was tied to a tree.
He said he was only fed twice with a morsel of hard bread and a sachet of water during his five days in captivity. Besides being underfed, he said he was tortured by the hoodlums while they were trying to extract a commitment from him on how to pay ransom for his release.
“I told them that I don’t have money, that we journalists only have name and not wealth but they insisted that I must pay them the millions of naira they were demanding,” he said.
But poor as journalists may be, Eke admitted that his family eventually paid an undisclosed sum as ransom to secure his release.The languid but jubilant Eke lauded the leadership and members of Abia State council of the NUJ for standing by him and his family during his ordeal.
In his remarks, the National Vice-President of NUJ, Zone C, Mr. Christopher Isiguzo, appealed to kidnappers to leave journalists alone “because we are not money bags”, adding that there was no reason why media people should be abducted.
He also urged government to provide adequate security for journalists given the already charged atmosphere in the run up to the 2015 general election and encouraged journalists to remain steadfast in carrying out their duties.
Earlier, the Chairman of Abia NUJ, John Emejor said the thanksgiving service was in fulfillment of a promise made on the day that journalists held a fasting and prayer session to seek God’s intervention in releasing Eke.
He said it was a thing of joy that the kidnapped journalist was eventually released on the night of November 20 after the fasting and prayers by his colleagues.