19 October, 2008

Sierra Express

How Audu, Radio Journalist Was Killed

Nigerian journalist, Eiphraim Audu was shot by six unknown gunmen near his home on Wednesday in Lafia, Nasarawa State capital, Sunday Mirror gathered.

Audu, a senior radio journalist with the Nasarawa State Broadcasting Service, was the chairman of the Credential Committee of the forthcoming Nigeria Union of Journalists elections in Nasarawa.

Gunmen shot Audu after he left his house to visit neighbours after returning from a state function, the General Manager of the Nasarawa State Broadcasting Service, Musa Abdullahi, Sunday Mirror gathered. No items were stolen from him or his car, which was parked nearby, said the secretary of the journalists union, Shu'aibu Usman Leman.

A spokesman for the State Police Command, Richard Akoji, told the press that the police would do everything in its power to find the perpetrators, according to local news reports.

Audu's friends and colleagues came from all over the country to attend a funeral service for him.  

Audu is the second journalist killed in worrisome circumstances this year alone. On August 17, unidentified gunmen shot Paul Abayomi Ogundeji, an editorial board member of ThisDay in Dopemu, a suburb of Lagos. According to a report by the Nigerian press watchdog organization Media Rights Agenda, Nigerian police claimed Ogundeji was killed by armed robbers, while an eyewitness claimed the journalist was killed by police.