An Owerri based journalist, Mr Salvator Amadi has alleged that he was beaten and brutalized by thugs of a female councillorship candidate of one of the opposition political parties in Owerri North Local Government Area of Imo State on Saturday 21st September, 2024.
Amadi who narrated his ordeal in a statement made available to newsmen in Owerri, on Sunday, said he was heading home after 6pm on election day, at Ikenegbu area of the State capital, when he noticed a noisy crowd at the gate of a house opposite a polling booth.
He said he approached the crowd and asked what was amiss with his android phone in recording mode.
“A young lady in the crowd revealed that the people were angry because they felt the election officers who arrived at the booth after 5pm must have rigged the election” he wrote.
According to him, he then approached the candidate at the gate and asked what happened.
“She asked to know me and I told her I m a journalist and she flared up, shouting “Did they send you? Did they send you to come and spy on us?” Amadi stated.
Amadi, who is the publicity secretary of National Association of Electronic Media Presenters (NAEMPON) said he replied that he knows the candidate and had interacted with her before, adding that he (Amadi) is a member of the church in front of her house.
He wrote “The candidate shouted “I don’t know you.!! I don’t know you!!”
“Immediately, one of the young men working for her slapped him. Shocked, he brought out his ID card, saying that he knows the candidate.
“At that point, a young man seized his ID card. He then seized his android phone and, deleted the recording.
“The candidate collected the phone and put it in her bag. The journalist requested that his phone be returned to him since the recording had been deleted but she refused and told him to leave the place.
He stated that as he made to leave, three young men pounced on him, dragged him outside the gate and violently pushed him and he landed on the road on his back and head, with injuries on both arms.
According to him, the impact of the fall destroyed his prescription bifocal eyeglasses and Itel 30,000 milliamp Power Bank.
He further stated that “as he made to recover items that fell out of his pocket from the fall, a man next to him advised him to save his life first by leaving the area. The key to his house was lost in the incident.
“Unfortunately, the seizure of the android phone which could not be retrieved till 5pm on Sunday, 22nd September, 2024, disrupted the professional work that needed to be done including filing reports from the interviews on the election contained in the android phone.
“The matter was reported to Imo State Police Command Headquarters and from there to Orji Divisional Police Office where it was revealed that the candidate deposited the seized android phone and ID card” he stated.
He said he arrived at the police division at 9 am on Sunday to report the matter and had to wait for the Divisional Police Officer who came to the office after 4pm and ordered the immediate release of the Android phone and ID card to him without delay.
He stated that he does not intend to press charges against the politician, Eziada Chief Mrs Edna Oriaku if she pays for damages arising from the attack by her thugs.
