Family of slain Vanguard Newspapers’ reporter, Tordue Salem, has said they would seek more clarifications from the police authorities on the circumstances of their son’s death.
The family said this had become necessary to help them clear the doubts surrounding the time of his disappearance and death.
It will be recalled that Salem, who covered the activities of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly for Vanguard Newspapers, got missing on October 13, 2021, in Abuja.
He was, however, found dead after almost one month in Wuse General Hospital morgue in Abuja by the police authorities.
Though the Force Public Relations Officer FPRO, Frank Mba, at a briefing on Friday said Salem was killed by a hit-and-run commercial driver, Itoro Clement, around Mabuchi/Wuse interchange in Abuja metropolis, he didn’t disclose the identity of the person who deposited the late journalist’s body in the morgue.
Mba also said the police found five identity cards on him.
The ID cards included those of Vanguard Newspapers, the National Assembly (House of Representatives) and the Nigerian Union of Journalists, NUJ.
Others were two Automated Teller Machine, ATM, cards of two commercial banks.
“On November 11, 2021, after a painstaking search, a body believed to be that of Henry Tordue Salem was found at about 11:20am at Wuse General Hospital morgue.
“Detectives have already contacted the family members and this body has been positively identified by family members as that of Henry Tordue Salem.
“In addition to that physical and positive identification, detectives also searched the body of the late journalist and these items were recovered: A Keystone Bank debit card bearing his name; a Union Bank debit card bearing his name; an ID card issued by Vanguard Newspapers identifying him as Henry Tordue Salem and a staff; another ID card from the Nigerian Union of Journalists, a temporary ID card from the National Assembly identifying him as a member of the House of Reps, Press Corps,” Mba had said.
found at about 11:20am at Wuse General Hospital morgue.
“Detectives have already contacted the family members and this body has been positively identified by family members as that of Henry Tordue Salem.
“In addition to that physical and positive identification, detectives also searched the body of the late journalist and these items were recovered: A Keystone Bank debit card bearing his name; a Union Bank debit card bearing his name; an ID card issued by Vanguard Newspapers identifying him as Henry Tordue Salem and a staff; another ID card from the Nigerian Union of Journalists, a temporary ID card from the National Assembly identifying him as a member of the House of Reps, Press Corps,” Mba had said.
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But speaking to Vanguard at the weekend, the Salem’s family said the mortuary attendants upon the receipt of the corpse on the day it was deposited, October 13, 2021, confirmed seeing some ID cards on the body.
The family, therefore, wondered why the person who deposited the body and the morgue personnel did not report it to either the police or the hospital management, given the media hype that trailed his disappearance.
It could not also come to terms with the time lag between his disappearance and death, given the discovery of the ID cards on the body.
Dr. Jeffrey Kuraun, the husband to Salem’s elder sister, Mrs Elizabeth Kuraun, who said the circumstances were yet to be properly understood by the family, submitted that they will seek further clarifications on the matter.
He said: “If they found the ID cards on his body the day he was hit, why did it take so long to identify the body? The ID cards were found on him. It means even if you were not sure that was him, whoever picked him will present the ID cards to say, I found this on him.
”The body I picked could be this person carrying the ID cards. Besides that, there’s been a lot of media activities around it. So, why can’t you forward the ID cards? If we had received a formal police report telling us what transpired, may be these questions should have been answered. But because we haven’t received any, they are unanswered to me. That’s why I need to go to them.”
Asked what their next line of action would be, if the answers fail to come as expected, Kuraun said he would make an appeal to the police authorities.
“I am a citizen of this country and I will appeal to them to answer. That’s what I will do because they are the ones in charge of investigations. They are the ones in charge of the security of this country. We will go back to them to say these need answers.
”You may have concluded your report but these questions are yet to be answered or that we are not satisfied. We will seek clarification from them, the same people,” he said.
Recalling some of the incidents around her brother months before his disappearance, Mrs. Elizabeth Kuraun said Salem was a victim of an attack by hoodlums about six months earlier.
“He was living in Trademore Estate, Airport road. The security there wasn’t ok. There’s a time they were attacking houses in Lugbe. They came to his place, he was traumatized. And we were too. The place was not safe and since we are having a big place, I said why don’t you come and live with us, pending when you will get a house in town instead of risking your life going to Lugbe after work.
“That’s why he’s in my house, trying to get a place in town, instead of airport which is very dangerous at night, just for his safety. Yes, they attacked him in his house a few months ago. I can’t remember when exactly but it’s not up to 6 months.
”Some boys came to his house with cutlasses. My nephew was living with him. So, after packing his things, they now asked my nephew to know on his door. He knocked and he opened the door and someone struck him. But because of his size, he was able to wrestle with them and they ran.
”So, he called me in the morning and I said, please, this is your life and you need to be saved. So, my husband and I asked him to come and live with us, when you get a house in the town, you can move”, she said.
The distraught Kuraun who described Salem as both a son and father of the family, also recalled their last moment together.
“My parents, especially my mum, died a long time ago and Tordue is like a son to me because I paid part of his tuition fees from secondary to the university. My husband assisted him on virtually everything when he wanted to get married.
”He’s like a son to us. And he’s been living with me. Where I come from, he’s like the father of the house because he’s the first boy after six girls. And because we don’t have a father, we took him as our father.
“He’s the best to all his siblings. He’s their favorite. If you ask any one of us our favorite, he was, because he was a very gentle man, harmless, hardly talked. He’s not loud. Everyone loved him. Everyone wants to be around someone who’s harmless, that cares about humanity. He’s that kind of person, very hard working, dedicated to his job. He loved his job.
“The day he got missing, I was taking the kids to school around 7am, I saw him standing close to the gate. He was on the phone. I called him chief, chief journalist. He was on the phone, I waved and moved on. I don’t know whether he waved back because he was on the phone. That was it,” Salem’s elder sister added.
Meanwhile, the minority caucus of the House of Representatives which said it received the news of the journalist’s death with shock and utter devastation, has called on the police to conduct further investigation into the matter.
A statement signed by the minority leader of the House, Ndudi Elumelu, noted that there were conflicting official security reports on the matter, saying investigations must not be foreclosed.
“The news of the reported discovery of the remains of the journalist on Thursday, a month after he went missing, is horrifying and yet another sad commentary on worsening insecurity in our country.
“The minority caucus notes the report by the police that the journalist was knocked down by a hit and run driver around Mabushi area in Abuja. However, as representatives of the people, we demand that the Police must not foreclose investigations, particularly given conflicting official security reports trailing Mr. Salem’s sudden disappearance and death.
“Our caucus is still trying to come to terms with the conflicting reports as well as how it took a month before the body of a motor accident victim is discovered in a very busy area like Mabushi or any part of Abuja municipal for that matter.
“It is, indeed, saddening that our nation will, in this manner, lose such a young, energetic, highly resourceful and experienced journalist, like Mr. Salem, who used his investigative journalism skill towards entrenching democracy and good governance in our country. His death is a huge blow to the media and journalism practice in Nigeria.
“The minority caucus urges the police to leave no stone unturned in addressing all conflicting issues related to the disappearance and death of the journalist.
“Our caucus commiserates with the Salem family, particularly Mrs. Salem, Vanguard Newspapers, the House of Representatives Press Corps and the entire media industry for this irreparable loss,” the statement read.
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