By Theresa Moses
Mr. Tordue Salem was someone who, against all odds, stood out in the crowd for his intelligent, selfless service for humanity and sincerity in his practice of journalism. He was a great pen-pusher who has creatively used the pen mightily to positively impact people, touch lives in such a way that his sudden disappearance and mysterious death made many to question the essence of our existence on planet earth, particularly Nigeria of today. His mysterious disappearance for 29 days caused fears and anxiety for his family as his daughter kept asking about the whereabouts of her beloved father who hasn’t reached out to her. His elder sister, Torkwase Kuraun, cried endlessly, waiting by the door to see her brother return. The news of Tordue’s death left his relatives traumatized, his colleagues shocked, friends and loved ones bewildered.
Tordue Salem was a thoroughbred journalist, a professional par excellence. He doesn’t talk much but acts what he feels, positively and strongly about people he loves and cares about. He is open-minded, straight forward, hardworking and lively too. He was a proud Buharist, a stunt APC supporter. Ordinarily, this shouldn’t be happening to him in an administration he believed in and stoutly supported.
Mrs. Torkwase Kuraun, Tordue’s elder sister, in a post, explained how her brother was brutally killed.
Her words: “People might move on, but I can’t because you are my blood brother. I wish God will grant you justice. They butchered Tordue and dumped his body on the road: Hit-and-run without single blood on the scene?
“The Nigerian Police declared that he was hit by a car, but the autopsy that was carried out by a renowned pathologist in a government hospital and witnessed by other pathologists, including a Professor of Pathology, indicated a traumatic incident leading to multiple major injuries that resulted in his death. The report clearly stated physical assault before the traumatic incident owing to the nature of a couple of injuries on his forehead and other parts of his body including many broken ribs on both sides.
“My brother was stabbed and cut in different places. His blood drained out for days and body was decomposed before he was dropped in the morgue. What the Salem family is seeking from the Federal Government is justice. Those that killed him should not go free and cause the same harm to another person.”
Thirteen days after Tordue’s mysterious disappearance on October 26, 2021, the Force Public Relations Officer, CP Frank Mba, who spoke on behalf of the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) had assured concerned journalists on peaceful protest march that the police were making progress in their investigation, and that his last contact and conversation has been traced.
“We have interrogated at least six persons and we have traced the places he visited after he left the National Assembly. We have spoken with the last person he had an encounter with,” Mba said.
The NUJ, during the protest march, had accused the police of conspiracy of silence. But the Police in explaining what they described as “tactical silence,” insisted that they were working behind the scene to locate the missing journalist.
Thirty days after Salem’s disappearance (two weeks after Mba addressed the media), the Police made a U-turn and announced that they had found the body. Addressing newsmen on the incident at the premises of the Intelligence Response Team (IRT) located in the former Special Anti-Robbery Squad Headquarters in Abuja, the Force Public Relations Officer Frank Mba, who was flanked by the Head of IRT, Tunji Disu, unveiled how on interrogation “Clement Itoro, a commercial driver, admitted” to have hit Salem around Mabushi/Wuse area of Abuja metropolis at about 10 pm on the day he got missing; that is, 30 long days after. He said the driver took off immediately and never reported the accident to the police.
“How we found Salem’s body at hospital morgue – Police”
According to Mba, further police investigations indicated that Salem’s body was deposited at Wuse General Hospital morgue. He said the police were, however, able to retrieve three identity cards and two Automated Teller Machine (ATM) cards of two commercial banks when the body was searched. The identity cards included those of Vanguard Newspapers, the National Assembly (House of Representatives) and the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ).
His words: “Henry Tordue Salem was last seen on the 13th of October, 2021. A friend of his reportedly dropped him off at a gas station somewhere in Shehu Shagari Way, and from that moment, he was never seen again. When that case was reported to the police, the IGP Usman Alkali Baba gave very clear instructions to our detectives in the Force Intelligence Bureau to take up this matter, which was already being investigated in different departments at the National Assembly Police Station and the FCT-CID.
“The Intelligence Bureau was mandated to take over and consolidate all the case files and conduct a very discreet investigation into that case. Acting on that directive, detectives from the IRT swung into action. Henry’s movement was trailed up to BJ Gardens, located somewhere in Garki; close to old CBN. A young lady that had an interaction with him on the night of disappearance was located and detectives spoke to her. From that point, investigators expanded their investigation by working on different suppositions and hypotheses.
“A major breakthrough was, however, made when his phone, an iPhone 6 that had already been smashed into pieces, was Trailed and found in a garage somewhere in Mpape called ‘Good Friends’ garage. It was discovered that a Text Call was made from his SIM card, and following detailed and intensive digital and forensic analysis on both his CDR and IMEI and the scrap phone a major arrest and breakthrough was made. One Itoro Clement who happens to be a commercial driver in charge of a Toyota Camry 2014 model with registration number, BWR 243 DK was subsequently arrested.
“On interrogation, Itoro Clement stated clearly that on the night that Henry Tordue Salem disappeared, he had a Hit-And-Run Incident somewhere around Mabushi-Wuse interchange.”
Asked who deposited the body and why the hospital didn’t contact the police at the time, Mba said he could not speak for the hospital.
He, however, attributed the gap to some administrative negligence, admitting that due diligence may not have been done.
The interface went thus:
Journalists: Who deposited the body and why didn’t the hospital report when an unknown body was brought to the hospital?
Mba: I can’t answer for the hospital
Journalists: Are there not people that should be arrested in this case?
Mba: As far as we are concerned, the basic message today is the fact that we have been able to find his body and positively identify him. We have the driver who will speak to you and explain further on what transpired. We will also be looking at other persons who were supposed to take certain actions as well as issues of negligence and failure of any individual to carry out his duties as responsible as he should. These are issues we will deal with after this case.”
However, sources in Abuja, who pleaded anonymity, told some journalists that they received phone-calls from the Police on Thursday, requesting to know what clothes Mr. Salem was wearing on the day he vanished.
“I received a phone-call from the police asking me what clothes Tordue was wearing on the day he went missing,” a source disclosed.
On his part, a family friend, who visited the Wuse General Hospital morgue in Abuja to ascertain the veracity of Mr. Salem’s death, said the remains depicted “someone who was physically tortured to death.”
The source, who for obvious security reasons did not want his name mentioned, disclosed that upon enquiries, morgue attendants “informed us that Mr. Salem’s corpse was brought to the Wuse General Hospital on the day without providing details of the said date.”
On the issue of the deceased journalist’s identity, he said he was registered as an “unknown body,” despite Mr. Salem bearing his Keystone Bank debit card, a Union Bank debit card, an ID card issued by Vanguard Newspaper, an NUJ ID card, and a temporary ID card from the National Assembly Media Corp,” the source explained (even as Mba had stated that ID cards were found on him).
“I only got to know about my brother’s killing through media reports last night,” Mrs. Kuraun said. “There was neither any formal communication from the Nigerian Police nor from Tordue’s employer (Vanguard Newspaper) that my brother has died,” the distraught sister of the deceased journalist told reporters as her eyes reddened in anger and anguish at Abuja.
This has fuelled speculations that Mr. Salem might have been murdered, while authorities blame the gruesome killing on an unconnected incident as a cover-up. Obviously irked by police response on why it took the Wuse General Hospital so many days to disclose Tordue’s death, it later said: “It’s not our work to look for the relatives; it’s only that of the police.”
The hospital exonerated itself from the delay in notifying the family and the public about the depositing of Tordue’s corpse. Secretary of Wuse General Hospital, Mrs. Hanatu Sani, told Vanguard that the hospital has no place in law to inform families of dead bodies brought in, noting it was the responsibility of the police. Sani said the non-release of information on Tordue’s death was because of the inability of the policeman that brought the corpse to follow up.
According to her, the Police Officer failed to show up, even when the hospital’s mortician called to inform him a day after the body was brought in that ID cards and other items had been found.
She said: “If the police did not come, there was nothing we could have done. We have a lot of unclaimed corpses here in the morgue. Most of them are victims of these hit-and-run drivers.
“The challenge we had in this case was the Policeman (who deposited the corpse) that refused to come back after he brought the body. The mortician said he called him the very next day after he found the deceased’s particulars, but he refused to come. He was calling him to come and check and see how he can contact the relatives; but the policeman never showed up.”
The mortician, a middle-aged man, who identified himself as Mohammed, admitted to receiving the body of Tordue on October 13, 2021, said the body came in very late that fateful night.
“We registered it (body) as an unknown corpse because there was nothing to identify him. It was the next day I found his ID cards and other items. It was because of this I placed a call to the policeman to come down; but he refused to come after I explained everything to him and he promised to come.
“I saw the items while we were stitching the dismembered body. He brought the body in the night with an FRSC officer in a Road Safety vehicle. But when we were stitching the body, I found items, including the ID cards and immediately called the policeman. That first time, he picked my call and we spoke. After informing him of the ID cards and the need to come pick them so as to inform the relatives, he stopped picking my calls, even after assuring me that he was coming,” he said.
On how the body was identified by the Intelligence Response Team, he said:
“When the IRT came, they asked whether we had any unclaimed corpse here and I answered that we have many here; and they asked again whether we received anybody here on October 13. When I answered in the affirmative, they now brought the picture of the person they were looking for and the name. I took them inside to see the body brought on the day and the ID cards we found on the body and they confirmed that it was the person they were looking for.”
It could be recalled that after Tordue was declared missing and reported to the police, the Commissioner of Police FCT, Mr. Babaji Sunday directed Area Commanders, DPOs to intensify search for the missing journalist, saying no information on kidnap or demand for ransom made and no report of abandoned corpse in Abuja mortuaries or on the roads.
The Commissioner of Police, FCT, Mr. Babaji Sunday, has said that operatives of the Command are working round the clock to unravel the whereabouts of missing Vanguard House of Representatives Reporter, Mr. Tordue Salem, who was last seen on Wednesday, last week in Abuja.
“Mr. Tordue was said to have been seen around the Total Filling Station, opposite the Police headquarters on Wednesday evening and since then has not been seen again.
“We are serious on the matter. However, we have not received any information about any kidnap or demand for ransom.
“My men have not received any information about any dead corpse either on the road or abandoned corpse from the mortuary. But we are seriously investigating the matter and searching,” he said.
He, however, assured that the police will not rest on its oars until the mystery surrounding the disappearance of the journalist is unravelled.
For the 30 days of suspense that the mysterious disappearance of Tordue trended on both social and traditional media, there was no word from the Department of State Services (DSS). But two days after Tordue was reportedly found dead, the DSS surprisingly denied having a hand in the disappearance and eventual death of the Vanguard journalist.
The Public Relations Officer of the DSS, Dr. Peter Afunanya, made the disclosure at a one-day seminar organised by the security agency in conjunction with the FCT chapter of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) in Abuja yesterday (14th November, 2021).
Afunanya said that the DSS did not arrest, detain or have anything to do with Tordue, who was reported missing since October 13, 2021 before the police claimed the discovery of his body at the Wuse General Hospital on Friday.
Afunanya’s reaction followed a motion at the instance of a senator from Benue State, Emmanuel Orker-Jev, that security agencies should be pressed to produce the missing journalist who was one of his constituents before his death.
“The Department of State Service did not arrest, detain or have a hand in Tordue’s death. More so, Tordue was not covering or related in any way to any security institution or beat and had not done anything to attract any security attention.
“The DSS, being a responsible organisation, does not embark on indiscriminate and secret arrest and detention or killing of anybody and could, therefore, not have arrested or detained the dead journalist. Whenever we have justifiable reason to arrest or detain anyone, we always make it public and give reasons for such action in accordance with the rules of our engagement.”
It’s still a concern that it took a few weeks for Vanguard Media to visit Tordue’s family while he was still missing. Again, at the burial, two persons represented Vanguard Media and, after the burial, no senior officer of the media house has yet visited the family of the murdered journalist. Indeed, such indifference leaves a sour taste, especially as there was no report showing that Vanguard covered the burial of its murdered National Assembly Correspondent.
Though NUJ Abuja chapter were at the burial, one would have expected the association to make a whole lot of noise about the murder. From NUJ’s records, no fewer than eight journalists (including Tordue) have been reportedly killed while carrying out their lawful assignments since 2015. Within the same period, President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration has also recorded 300 violations and harassments which affected about 500 journalists, media workers, and media houses in the country.
This was revealed in Abuja during the release and official presentation of the State of Media Freedom in Nigeria by Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) in collaboration with the Nigerian Union of Journalists, Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA) and Hewlett Foundation.
The report noted: “For example, in 2017, four journalists were killed in separate incidents with no credible inquiry yet to find the culprits and their motive for the fatal attacks. The four were a cameraman with the Anambra Broadcasting Service, Ikechukwu Onubogu; Lawrence Okojie of the Nigerian Television Authority, Edo State; a Desk Editor with Glory FM in Bayelsa State, Famous Giobaro, and freelance broadcaster in Ekiti State, Abdul Ganiyu Lawal.
“Four more journalists have since been killed under circumstances that have yet to be clarified through any credible investigations. The killing on July 22, 2019 of Precious Owolabi, a reporter with the Channels Television in Abuja while covering a protest by members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria-IMN, was agonising.”
After 29 days of intensive publicity about his whereabouts, Vanguard Newspaper broke the tragic news of his passing thus: “Vanguard missing reporter, Tordue Henry Salem, has been found dead in Abuja. Details of the circumstances surrounding the recovery of his remains were still sketchy as at 9.30 pm, Thursday.” (This is dry and flat; not the language of a media house that lost a valuable staff.)
Until his death, series of appeals has been made to President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR; Inspector-General of Police, Department of State Services, Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), among other security agencies, to assist in locating the missing journalist. Most recent was an ultimatum by the House of Representatives to all security agencies in the country to investigate and find Tordue. The resolution was sequel to a unanimous adoption of an “Urgent Motion of Public Importance” raised by the Minority Leader, Ndudi Elumelu (PDP, Delta), at the plenary on Tuesday, November 9, 2021.
Is journalism in Nigeria now a crime? Was there anything he wrote or reported that was incriminating? Was he having any form of misunderstanding with any one, recently or even in the past? Was it a setup? Even if guilty of any of these, there are legitimate avenues of bringing an erring journalist to book. Resorting to such a brutal murder was too crude, cruel and uncalled for.
The Federal Government owes Nigerian journalists and Tordue’s family a duty to investigate the cause and bring to book those responsible for extra-judicial murder. Again, why was the family of the deceased and the leadership of the NUJ not contacted prior to the public announcement of the finding of Tordue’s corpse?
The Police account on Tordue’s death was not in sync with credible process of investigation as it poses more questions than answers. It’s strange to believe the reality that a journalist on a legitimate duty after the close of work will just vanish into thin air without a trace, no news of his whereabouts, only for his dead body to be found at the Wuse General Hospital Morgue in Abuja. Yet, the identity of whoever deposited Tordue’s corpse at the morgue remains suspicious.
Why has the police not released the “snatched” iPhone6 Phone and car key of the late journalist to the family whereas other items, including shoes with mud on it, yet not a single blood stain?
We do our job passionately; risk our lives with all the attendant hazards, yet no guarantee if anything happens to you; no insurance policies, no regards for life, either. We live at the mercy of criminals, corrupt politicians/government officials and even security agencies.
We copy the culture of the Western world yet we can’t make the social environment safe and livable for professionals in our clime. The space for press freedom/freedom of expression is fast shrinking under the incumbent administration, especially with the political office-holders using draconian laws and other measures to silence critical voices and independent media.
The NUJ and the Nigerian Guild of Editors should speak up and appeal to the international community to focus on Nigeria with a view to bringing to account all those responsible for media abuse, intimidation, harassment and even murder. We never can tell who next!
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