The Nigerian Army said soldiers who invaded the secretariat of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) in Umuahia, Abia State would be made to face the wrath of the law.
The spokesman for the 14 Brigade in Abia state, Major Oyegoke Gbadamasi said the Commander of the 14 Brigade and the Deputy Director of Army Public Relations at the 82 Division in Enugu promptly waded into the matter after the invasion and resolved amicably with the NUJ.
He said in terse statement that, “what happened was that while the soldiers on patrol near the Abia State NUJ Secretariat, they noticed some people filming them. Unfortunately, they seized and damaged their recording devices; an iPad and 2 mobile phones.
“Preliminary investigation shows that the items belongs to journalists on their legitimate duties. Consequently, the Commander 14 Brigade and Deputy Director Army Public Relations 82 Division waded into the matter which has since been resolved amicably.
“In addition, the soldiers involved will face disciplinary action.”
Also narrating the stories of the invasion, journalists at the secretariat said the soldiers claimed they saw somebody taking photographs of them from the building and without concrete evidence attacked us .
The Chairman of Council Mr. John Emejor has confirmed the incident.
Emejor lamented the attack by the soldiers saying that a National officer of the Union Ezeogo Bonny Okoro was slapped by one of the Soldiers.
He said: “Our press centre was invaded by soldiers, two Journalists lost their IPads and phones, while a national leader in the office was attacked.
“Our stand is that those involved in this attack on innocent Journalists should be fished out and punished in line with the constitution of the Country.”