By Magnus Aluma
The Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Imo State Council has raised the alarm over purported plans by some members of the union in the state, to sell the Press Centre, located on the Port Harcourt Road, Owerri.
A statement issued by a former chairman of the Imo State Council of NUJ, Comrade Ben Osuagwu and made available to newsmen recently in Owerri, described as illegal and act of criminality, the plot by some members of NUJ in the state, to sell the Council’s secretariat.
Osuagwu in the statement recalled that the Centre was given to journalists in Imo State during his regime as chairman, by Commodore Amadi Ikwechegh, a former military governor of the state, and called for a collaborative intervention of Governor Hope Uzodinma and the Imo State Police Commissioner to prevent the purported closure and intention to sell the Press Centre.
The statement reads in part: “I, Ben Osuagwu, a former chairman of the Imo State Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, call on the Imo State Governor, Senator Hope Uzodinma and the Police Commissioner in Imo State to stop and intervene on the purported closure and intention to sell the best NUJ Press Press Centre in Owerri by a section of its members.
The statement further reads: “the matter I learnt is in Court. They should allow the matter to end in the Court, why hurry to go and lock up the Centre. We say No to illegal and criminal sale of the NUJ Press Centre and Senator Hope Uzodinma should not allow this to happen during his time, as Governor of Imo State.”
NewsBits gathered that the Press Centre was given to journalists in Imo State by a one-time Military Governor of the state, Commodore Amadi Ikwechegh when Comrade Osuagwu was chairman of the State’s Council of NUJ.
The former NUJ chairman also condemned the purported closure and intention to sell the Press Centre, and said that the act was not only outrageous, but also an insult on the sensibilities of Journalists across the country, including their noble friends and Patrons.
