The Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, Abia State council, has reiterated its call on the Abia State government to liaise with the leadership of military formations in the state in changing the strategy of forcing commuters to alight from their vehicles and trek across checkpoints.
The NUJ, which said this in a communique issued at the end of its congress held at the union’s secretariat in Umuahia, expressed dismay that passengers were being forced to alight from their vehicles and made to trek while passing the checkpoints, before being allowed to continue their journeys.
The communique, which was signed by the Chairman of NUJ, Abia State, Victor Ndukwe and the Secretary, Ikechuckwu Onuegbu, said that the ugly experience was being noted at NNPC Mega station along Umuahia/Okigwe axis of Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway, Umuahia-Uzuakoli Road, among other spots.
It described the practice as dehumanizing and a form of torture to the passengers.
The NUJ, which commended the State Governor, Alex Otti, for offsetting the arrears of pensions owed by past administrations, however, drew the Otti’s attention to the plights of retirees of the Broadcasting Corporation of Abia (BCA) and the National Ambassador Newspapers (Abia Newspaper) who have not been paid their pensions for about nine months.
“The development has exposed the affected pensioners to the current harsh economic realities.
“Information available to Congress shows that about eight pensioners of BCA have passed away within the period under review reportedly as a result of their inability to fund their medication occasioned by lack of money,” it said.
The union appealed to the Governor to ensure that the affected retirees who have already been verified were paid.
The Congress noted with concern, the increasing crime rate within Umuahia and Aba metropolis said to be perpetrated by bad elements who disguise themselves as tricycle operators and therefore urged various tricycle unions to cooperate with the state government and security agencies in fishing the bad eggs among them.
The journalists, who lauded the Abia State government’s move to rid its streets of mentally ill persons, said that the exercise should be extended to all parts of the state.
They equally thanked Governor Alex Otto for appointing a member of NUJ, Francis Nwaubani as the acting Director General of Broadcasting Corporation of Abia (BCA) while urging the new DG to uplift the station.
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