Ebonyi State Correspondent of the Guardian Newspapers
On February 21, 2022, political thugs numbering over 50, suspected to be loyalists of members of the Ebonyi State House of Assembly (EBSHA), attacked and assaulted Mr. Nnamdi Akpa, the Ebonyi State correspondent of The Guardian newspaper at the Assembly complex in Abakaliki, the state capital.
Nnamdi, who is also the Secretary of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Ebonyi State Council was reportedly attacked by the thugs shortly after the EBSHA sitting on that day.
He was said to have contacted the former Secretary to the Government of Federation, Sen. Pius Anyim Pius and the State chairman of PDP, Tochukwu Okorie to get their reactions on the removal of the Deputy Speaker of the House, Mr Obasi Odefa by the House.
Speaking shortly after his ordeal, Nnamdi said he was assaulted and attacked by over 50 thugs. According to him, “the thugs that attacked me are loyal to the Speaker and they are more than 50. When I came out from the chamber, they came and told me to give them my phone. I don’t know the reason I should give them my phone.
“They said I was texting some people. Before I knew what was happening, they started beating me up and took away my phone.”
It took the intervention of the chairman of NUJ, Ebonyi State Council, Mr Tony Nwazi and a few other journalists to rescue Nnamdi from the hands of the thugs.
The speaker of Ebonyi State House of Assembly, Mr. Francis Nwifuru, later tendered an apology to the correspondent and members of the NUJ, Ebonyi State Council but allegedly blamed Nnamdi for sending SMS to people that are “enemies of the State Government”.
