Assault On Journalist: Albarka Radio Demands DPO’s Suspension

The management of Albarka Radio, Bauchi, has demanded that the full weight of the law be made to bear on some police officers who brutalised its reporter while performing his lawful duty during the Eid-el-Fitr celebration in Bununu, headquarters of Tafawa Balewa local government area.

The management said it was outraged and traumatised by the vicious, unprovoked and dehumanising assault perpetrated against its staff member and reporter by the divisional police officer (DPO) of Bununu, and his men during the Sallah celebration.

The general manager of the station, Malam Dauda Mohammed Ciroma, in a press statement yesterday, noted that the cordial and mutually respectful relationship that had existed between Albarka Radio and the Bauchi State Police Command was being tested by the reckless actions of the DPO and his men.

Ciroma said the management was aware that the conduct of the DPO and his men does not represent the discipline and integrity of the entire police personnel in Bauchi State.

He noted the statement of the commissioner of police, Sani-Omolori Aliyu, condemning the brutal attack and his promise to investigate the incident, stressing that the erring officer(s) must be punished accordingly to serve as a deterrent to others who may contemplate similar acts of lawlessness.

Ciroma therefore called on the Bauchi commissioner of police to suspend the DPO pending the outcome of the investigation, to ensure the process was not compromised.