By Correspondent in Minna.
Worried by renewed attacks on rural communities by armed bandits in Niger news state, the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), thestate Council, has appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration not to abandon Niger state to armed bandits whose sustained encroachment is causing more untold hardship to the entire Nigerlites.
Journalists in Niger state also want President Buhari to live up to statutory responsibilities of protecting lives and property of citizenry by flushing out armed bandits that have taken over some Local Government Areas of the state,just as he did to other states with similar security challenge.
The NUJ in a Communique at the end of its Congress which took place at the IBB Pen House, Minna expressed worry that; killings, abductions and destruction of people’s source of livelihood in rural areas had become almost a daily occurrence hence the need for the Presidency to act fast before the criminals over-run the entire state.
The Communique,jointly signed by Yunusa Abugi and Matthew Jwantu, Chairman and Secretary of the Communique Drafting Committee respectively and the Council Secretary, Mohammed Usman Chiji, also expressed worry that Minna, the state capital, was fast becoming a hub for security breaches and therefore wants the state government to check the trend.
Minna, the state capital and environs is fast becoming hide-out for people with questionable character and the security of citizenry no longer guaranteed, this according to journalists in the state did not speak well of the Governor Abubarkar Sani Bello-led administration.
Besides flushing out people with questionable character from Minna metropolis in particular, the journalists also want the state government to checkmate the excesses of the new traffic officers with their indiscriminate harrassment of motorists and other road users to avoid more deaths.
The union condemned in strong terms increasing rate of thuggery and youth restiveness which it noted had claimed lives in Minna and suggested that the state government come up with a mechanism that would involve both parents and community leaders in curbing the menace.
Meanwhile, count down to the 2023 general elections, journalists have been cautioned against allowing themselves to be used as tools of destruction at the detriments of their image and that of the union in Niger state by not engaging in any form of ethical misconduct.
The congress resolved that it would not condone any unethical conduct and quackery among practitioners in the state, adding that, ‘any member who outrightly compromises ethical codes and conduct of the profession would be decisively dealt with in line with the NUJ constitution’.
While pleading with members to support journalists vying for elective positions ahead of the coming dispensation saying that experience had shown that journalists understand the dynamics of development more than average politician, the union encouraged more members with leadership skills to join the foray.
The union is also worried that the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company,(AEDC) had not lived up to the expectations of Nigerlites in providing stable electricity to encourage entrepreneurs and small scale indistries in the state.
Niger state continues to experience epileptic power supply despite efforts by the state government, this according to the journalists is even becoming more worrisome as the AEDC remained indifferent with almost half of the entire Transformers in Minna,the state capital, in bad shape.
