A journalist in Ebonyi State, Aliuna Godwin, was on Thursday allegedly brutalized by security operatives attached to the state’s Ministry of Border Peace and Conflict Resolution, reportedly acting under the direct instruction of the Commissioner, Prof. Paul Awo Nwobasi.
Aliuna, an editor with The Nations News Nigeria and correspondent for Daily Asset newspaper, was left hospitalized after the alleged attack, which occurred at the Old Government House, Abakaliki, where the ministry was hosting a peace-resolution meeting over an Ezeship tussle in Ishielu Local Government Area.Digital newspaper subscription
Speaking from his hospital bed along Nkaliki Road, the visibly injured journalist narrated how the Commissioner allegedly ordered his arrest, assault, and detention.
“I was roughly manhandled today by Neighbourhood Watch operatives under the directive and supervision of the Commissioner for Border Peace and Conflict Resolution, Prof. Paul Awo Nwobasi,” he said.
According to him, trouble began shortly after he arrived to cover the event with other journalists.
“I didn’t do anything to him. They had a programme today at the old Government House, Abakaliki, where the ministry was trying to resolve the Ezeship tussle rocking one of the communities in Ishielu LGA,” he explained.
Aliuna said an aide invited him into the hall, but moments after he sat down, the Commissioner allegedly began shouting.
“She insisted I should come inside. When I entered, I went to the back and sat down. Just a short while later, the Commissioner started shouting, ‘Who is that journalist?’ I said, ‘I’m the one, sir.’”
He said his phone was immediately seized.
“Before I knew it, they confiscated my phone. He ordered one of his aides to delete everything in the phone, to ransack it and do whatever he wanted.”
Aliuna stated that as he pleaded to be allowed to leave, the Commissioner grew more aggressive.
“I said, ‘Commissioner, allow me to go. I’m only doing my job as a journalist.’ He started fuming and said that if I talked again, he would beat me up.”
He said the Commissioner then allegedly pushed him and ordered security operatives to remove him.
“Before I knew it, he ordered the Neighbourhood Watch operatives to whisk me away. They bundled me out.”
The attack escalated outside the hall.
“As I was going out, I told him to allow me to go back and collect my phone. While I was still talking, one of them lifted me up and threw me inside their cell.”
According to the journalist, five operatives descended on him inside the cell.
“After throwing me on the ground, they started beating me up. About five of them descended on me, hitting me hard like a common criminal. What did I do to deserve such manhandling?”
He described severe blows to his head, eyes, and back.
“They were hitting me all at once — one on the head, another on the eyes, one kept hitting my back, and another was trying to pull my hands behind my back.”
Aliuna said he was ordered to strip.
“I sat on the ground. They told me to remove my clothes. I removed them. They said I was under arrest as directed by the Commissioner.”
He alleged that one officer threatened to break his legs.
“One of them went outside and brought a weapon. He said if I moved, they would break my legs. I asked, ‘What did I do? Did I steal anything to deserve this kind of treatment?’”
He remained detained until the event ended, after which the Commissioner allegedly continued to threaten him.
“After the event ended, my colleague met with him. He started threatening again that he would deal with me and report me to the governor.”
Now undergoing treatment, Aliuna said his vision has been impaired.
“As you can see, I’m now in the hospital undergoing tests and treatment. I can’t see clearly with one of my eyes. So, I call on the state government to intervene.”
He appealed to Governor Francis Nwifuru to call the Commissioner to order.
“I urge the governor of Ebonyi State, Francis Nwifuru, to call the Commissioner, Paul Awo Nwobasi, to order. He should stop being hostile to journalists in the state. This is not how a Commissioner should behave.”
Aliuna described the alleged assault as a direct attack on press freedom.
“It is barbaric and uncalled for for a Commissioner to order security operatives to beat up a journalist to a pulp. For what purpose? He is trying to suppress freedom of information in Ebonyi State. It is condemnable and unwarranted.”
He called on human rights organisations, editors, and the public to take action.
“I call on the general public, editors, neighbouring states, human rights groups, stakeholders, and governments at all levels to caution the Commissioner, Paul Nwobasi.”
He said no journalist deserves such treatment.
“How can a journalist doing his legitimate work be beaten like a common criminal on the orders of a Commissioner? Journalists are the conscience and mouthpiece of society.”
Aliuna said he remains deeply traumatized.
“I am not happy with the way I was rough-handled. I am not happy with what happened.”
He insisted that journalists must not be silenced.
“The way the Commissioner, Nwobasi, is gagging journalists in Ebonyi from doing their legitimate work is unacceptable.”
He stressed that journalists in the state have a cordial relationship with the government, making the Commissioner’s hostility baffling.
“Journalists in Ebonyi have a cordial working relationship with the state government. I don’t understand why the Commissioner is always hostile to journalists.”
Aliuna concluded with a final plea:
“Again, I call on the governor, Francis Nwifuru, and human rights activists to intervene for me because the way I was beaten like a common criminal is uncalled for.”
