A press briefing organized by the Sagbama Local Government chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, was disrupted on Sunday when hired thugs attacked the venue.
Several journalists, including Mr. Tife Owolabi, the chairman of the Federated Correspondents’ Chapel of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), Bayelsa State Council, were injured in the assault.
The attackers, armed with rods and other weapons, destroyed chairs and assaulted those present. Owolabi, a prominent journalist in Bayelsa State, sustained injuries to his forehead and left hand, while Jacobson Park of People’s FM 93.1 suffered a swollen hand after being hit with a flag pole.
Amidst the chaos, security personnel from the Operation Doo Akpo, the state security outfit, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, and the Nigerian police, arrived at the Da Crib Hotel, the venue of the event, to restore order.
The press briefing eventually resumed, with the Chairman of the Sagbama Local Government Chapter of the APC, Jonah Abeke, announcing the indefinite suspension of seven members for alleged anti-party activities.
Those suspended included Barr. Peres Peretu, Hon. Matthew Karimo, Major Oputa, Hon. Tangi Samuel, King Bolouyi Sufadoh, Hon. Goodluck Ebomu, and Hon. Youdio-gwei Benjamin.
Abeke accused the suspended members of openly working for Governor Douye Diri and Alhaji Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party during the 2023 elections, despite being members of the APC. He transmitted their suspension to the State Executive Committee of the party for ratification.
Abeke said: “In the 2023 National Assembly, presidential and governorship elections in Bayelsa State they openly worked for Gov. Douye Diri and Alhaji Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party. They made no pretences about their anti-party activities.
“It is on this note that we, the under-signed executives of the Sagbama Local Government Area (APC), hereby suspend them indefinitely from the party.
“Their suspension is hereby transmitted to the State Executive Committee of our party for ratification.”
Abeke also condemned the attack on the journalists, emphasizing that they had been invited to cover the press briefing and should not have been subjected to violence.
