Ebonyi Journalist Brutalized and Hospitalized, Alleges Commissioner’s Involvement

A journalist identified as Aliuna Godwin has recounted how he was severely assaulted inside the Old Government House, Abakaliki, allegedly on the orders of a serving commissioner.

Godwin, who works as an editor with The Nations News Nigeria and also reports for Daily Assetnewspaper, spoke to reporters from his hospital bed along Nkaliki Road in Abakaliki. He described the incident as an unprovoked attack carried out by members of the Neighbourhood Watch under the commissioner’s supervision.

According to him, the commissioner whose name is being withheld pending his response was hosting a meeting aimed at resolving a community leadership dispute when the assault occurred.

Godwin explained that he and other journalists had arrived to report on the event. Trouble began when the commissioner reportedly instructed him to leave the venue. As he attempted to comply, the commissioner allegedly shoved him, prompting security operatives to forcefully take him away.

Narrating further, he said an aide had earlier invited him into the hall, and he quietly took a seat at the back. Moments later, the commissioner began inquiring about “the journalist,” and upon identifying himself, his phone was seized. The commissioner allegedly ordered the aide to search the device and delete its contents.

“I pleaded with him to let me go because I was only doing my job,” Godwin said. “But he got angrier and said he would beat me himself.”

He stated that the commissioner pushed him again before directing the Neighbourhood Watch officers to remove him from the hall. Outside, when he requested to retrieve his phone, one of the operatives lifted him up and threw him into a cell.

Inside the cell, he said, about five operatives descended on him, punching and hitting him in various parts of his body.

“One was hitting my head, another my eyes, someone else was dealing blows to my back,” he recalled. “They told me to remove my clothes and said I was under arrest on the commissioner’s orders.”

According to Godwin, one of the operatives even brought a weapon and threatened to break his legs if he moved.

He said the assault only ended after the event concluded, but even then, the commissioner continued issuing threats through his colleagues, allegedly warning that he would “deal with” him and report him to the governor.

Now receiving medical treatment and struggling to see properly from one eye, Godwin is calling on Ebonyi State Governor Francis Nwifuru to step in and call the commissioner to order.

He condemned the attack as a blatant attempt to suppress press freedom in the state.

“It is unacceptable for a commissioner to order security agents to brutalize a journalist like a criminal,” he said. “Journalists are the watchdogs of society, and this kind of hostility is dangerous.”

He appealed to the public, media bodies, human rights groups, and relevant authorities to intervene and ensure justice is served.