Journalist with Vanguard newspaper, Tordue Henry Salem, who had been declared missing for days has been found dead in Abuja.
Vanguard on Friday reported that Mr Salem’s body was found in Abuja, adding that “details of the circumstances surrounding the recovery of his remains were still sketchy as at 9:30 p.m., Thursday.”
Salem, a 43-year-old reporter from Benue state who covers the House of Representatives for the newspaper, was last seen in Garki district of the FCT before his “alleged” disappearance.
The publication stated;
After the close of work that day, he (Mr Salem) was said to have alighted from a cab at Total filling station, close to the Force Headquarters, and headed for B.J’s garden, in the company of a female relative.
Thereafter, he reportedly flagged a cab for the lady who left before him, informing her that he was going to Area 8, Garki. But he was never seen until his remains were recovered on Thursday.
Some persons have reportedly been arrested in connection with his disappearance but Nigerian police said they were ‘distractions’ from the real perpetrators of the crime, Daily Trust reports.
One of them is identified as Prince Enyenihi, who was said to have contacted the journalist’s wife to demand a N100 million ransom.
“If you don’t pay, Tordue will be killed in seven days. For more information, call this number,” a test message from Enyenihi to Salem’s wife reportedly said.
House of Representatives had called on the Nigerian security agencies to immediately launch an investigation into the whereabouts of Salem, and give a report to the house in two weeks.
This was made known in a motion raised on Tuesday by Ndudi Elumelu, the minority leader of the house.
In the motion, Elumelu raised concerns that the sudden disappearance of the journalist is “an extension of the deteriorating state of insecurity in the nation’s capital which questions the efficiency of the country’s security operatives”.
May his soul Rest In Peace.
