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Community Youths
Attack Media Workers over report
Mr. Chido Okafor, a reporter with the Lagos based daily, ‘The Guardian’
newspaper and Mr. Peter Alele, the advert representative of the daily
were on February 20, 2008 subjected to humiliation in Warri, a
metropolis in Delta State in the Niger-delta area, South-south Nigeria
over a report on the Warri stadium.
About 20 youths suspected to be from Agbasa community, a suburb in the
metropolis stormed ‘The Guardian’ newspaper office in the morning
demanding to see the reporter who wrote the news story in the daily on
Monday, 18 February 2008 titled “FIFA thumbs down Warri stadium”. They
met Mr. Alele who informed them the reporter was not available at the
time, they left only to return and inform him the Chairman of the
community youths wanted to see him.
When Chido Okafor reported at the office, four youths accosted him and
demanded that he follow them to see their chairman. He obliged, against
his will, and went with them to a make-shift meeting rendezvous.
In a telephone conversation with Ayode Longe of Media Rights Monitor,
Chido disclosed that when they got to the venue, he met over 30 rough
looking youths who asked him his reason for writing a negative report
when he knew the stadium was located in their community. He said he told
them that his report was an accurate reflection of the findings of the
FIFA delegation to the stadium.
He said, not satisfied, the youths started punching him all over his
body until one of them asked the youths to stop. He was then ordered to
retract the story with a warning that they will attack him at home if he
did not retract it.
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