AN Abuja-based journalist, Joel Waksi, was found dead on Wednesday, June 19, five days after he was declared missing.
Waksi, an On-Air Personality (OAP) with Atar Communication, owners of Liberty TV/Radio reportedly left the office around 9 p.m. on Friday, June 14, and was supposed to return to work at the station’s Mpape office by 2 p.m. the following day.
The Group General Manager (GGM), Atar Communication, Balarabe Muhammad, in an interview with Daily Trust, said the police in Mpape Division of the nation’s capital had declared that Waksi’s body was found near the Panteka neighbourhood and had been transferred to the morgue at Kubwa General Hospital.
According to Muhammad, the OAP was stabbed around his neck, and his phone could not be found.
He said his organisation assumed that phone snatchers had attacked him.
Muhammad added that the deceased had escaped a similar attack in which he had been stabbed below the belly two months earlier.
“He was supposed to be on break till Monday, having worked at night. However, due to internal arrangements among colleagues during such public holidays, he was billed to report back to duty the next day afternoon, but he never did,’’ Muhammad stated.
The ICIR made attempts to confirm the details of the incident from the Police, but calls and messages sent to the Spokesperson of the FCT Police Command, Josephine Adeh, were not picked up or replied.
Meanwhile, the FCT Police Command has arrested a suspect over the murder of Chukwu Chukwudi, a Mechanic in Kugbo, Abuja.
This was disclosed by FCT Police police spokesperson, Adeh, in a statement.
She said the incident occurred at the Kugbo Mechanic, Abuja, on Thursday, June 20, when a mechanic and four others currently at large brought in a vehicle for repairs.
“Preliminary investigation revealed that an argument ensued between them and the mechanic upon which one Chukwu Chukwudi was stabbed in the neck with a dagger by one of the suspects.
“Upon receipt of the complaint, police operatives from Karu Division mobilized to the scene where one Tijani Uzairu who accompanied the other suspects was arrested and the victim was rushed to the hospital where the doctor on duty confirmed him dead,” Adeh stated.
According to the statement, the FCT Commissioner of Police, Benneth Igweh, has ordered that a discreet investigation be conducted into the matter.
Insecurity has continued to be a source of worry for residents of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
On June 14, The ICIR reported that three people died during a gun duel between the police and armed robbers who attempted to rob a First Bank branch in the Abaji Area of the FCT.
The victims include a police officer and two members of the gang.
Two of the deceased were confirmed dead after being rushed to the hospital, while one of the suspects was set ablaze by an irate mob after the police neutralised him.
A reporter with the ICIR
A Journalist with a niche for quality and a promoter of good governance