How thugs almost slaughtered journalist over land in Bayelsa

A journalist, Amaebi Alamene, attached to Bayelsa State Ministry of Information, Orientation and Strategy, has survived death by whiskers over a disputed land at Akenfa in Yenagoa Local Government Area of the state.

Thugs, said to be hired by a land-grabber in the state, were said to have attacked him and almost slaughtered him before he was saved.

It was learnt that the suspected thugs, who were allegedly under the payroll of a ranking official of Yenagoa LGA, were allegedly ordered to kill and maim anybody found on the land.

The illegal order was despite the intervention of the Bayelsa State Commissioner of Police, Ben Okolo,

The thugs, armed with dangerous weapons, allegedly inflicted several machete cuts on the defenceless journalist that left him in a coma. 

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They later dragged him in his unconscious state deeper into the bush to slaughter him but he survived by a whisker.

Community sources said the disputed land was between the top council official and one Collins Kalabari. The severely injured journalist is said to be serving as a proxy for Kalabiri. 

According to sources, the presence of the injured journalist on the land followed the order of CP Okolo that pictures of the land should be taken for the records in their investigations.

It was gathered that despite the court order in favour of Kalabari as the bonafide owner of the land, the embattled LG official allegedly resold the land to unknown persons, claiming that the land belonged to his mother.

However, the claim was punctured by his uncles and family members who sold the land to Collins Kalabari.

The injured journalist, Alamene, who spoke to reporters on his hospital bed amid pains, confirmed that he survived by a whisker, recalling that he was left for dead in his pool of blood and saved from being slaughtered by a Good Samaritan who identified him.

Alamene, while recounting his ordeal in the hands of the thugs, said: “The incident occured on February 12. The Bayelsa Police Commissioner had asked some policemen to take parties to the disputed land to take pictures and know what happened on the land. 

“Because the case was before the police, no one could visit the land. I was to go with the police and report back to him (CP).

“When I got to the land, I saw only a policeman and a photographer.  I asked the policeman about the other policemen detailed to be with us and he said since it was only to take pictures, there was no need for many policemen. As we were talking, a group of thugs, armed with dangerous weapons emerged. Before I knew it, the policeman entered his vehicle and drove off.

“I became defenseless; the thugs pounced on me and inflicted several machete cuts on me and after losing so much blood, I passed out. Thereafter, they dragged me towards the bush, threatening to slaughter me into pieces. They collected my phone from me and switched it off immediately. 

“While they were dragging me to the bush, one of them raised the alarm that I didn’t have land there and wondered why they were dragging me to kill me? He ordered that I should be released. At that point they were arguing and my body was soaked with my blood. On my legs, there were pains all over because they used machetes to flog me like canes.

“The good Samaritan rescued me from being slaughtered and took me to his car. They had all ready poured petrol on my car to set it ablaze. Their intention was to kill me and burn my car. But the Good Samaritan stopped them and collected my car keys from them. He drove me to Akenpai area in Yenagoa for a nurse to give me first aid treatment but because the blood was gushing out very much, the nurse asked that I be taken to a hospital.”

Medical doctors at the Federal Medical Centre, Yenagoa, led by a consultant family physician, Dr. Adebisi Ditari, stated in his report that the journalist was brought in with multiple lacerations to the left leg (above the knee), left hand, forehead and other places.

They said the initial treatment and suturing of lacerations were done in a peripheral centre.

Reacting to the deadly attack, the State Chairman, Nigerian Union of Journalists, Comrade Samuel Numonengi, condemned the attack and described it as barbaric and criminal.

He urged the State Commissioner of Police to arrest all those involved in the deadly attack.

Numonengi said though the case was before the state Police Command, he called on Governor Douye Diri and head of security agencies in the state to intervene and get those involved as sponsors and the thugs arrested.

He stated: “Thank God our journalist was not killed. This is how they slaughter people in the state and the corpses go missing mysteriously. 

“The surrounding bushes and swamps should be checked because we believe these are hired thugs involved in cases of missing persons in the state.”