Biafra: SOLDIERS MANHANDLE THISDAY, AUTHORITY NEWSPAPERS SALES REPS IN ABA, ARREST 2 VENDORS

At a time the army hierarchy was doing everything possible to ensure harmonious co-existence between her personnel and the civilian populace, soldiers from the Ngwa High Forward Operation Base (FOB), Aba, Abia State this week went lose when they manhandled the Aba sales representatives of Thisday and Authority Newspapers and arrested two Newspaper vendors including a 64 year old woman, Jecima. Trouble was said to have started for the victims when on Monday, the soldiers in two hilux vans stormed the Newspapers distribution point on St. Michael’s Road in a commando-style and ordered  everybody including those who came to buy Newspapers and Magazines to sit down on the bare floor.

An eyewitness recounted that having complied without hesitation, the soldiers who said they were looking for those selling what they termed “Biafra Newspapers”, ordered the people sitting on the floor to start identifying themselves. It was gathered that when the Thisday sales rep, Mr. Simeon Obi identified himself, the soldiers demanded for his official identity card and his response that it was in his office upstairs drew the ire of the soldiers who reportedly manhandled and bundled him into one of the waiting hilux vans.

Of more pathetic was the case of theAuthority Newspapers sales rep, Mrs. Chinyere Ibe. Our source who wouldn’t want to be named said that Mrs. Ibe was sharing her Newspapers to vendors when the soldiers arrived and asked her to identify herself. The source said immediately the woman said “I’m with the Authority Newspapers”, one of the soldiers gave her severe slaps and said, “You say you be authority, who gave you that authority, who made you the authority of this town? If I hear you be authority again, I will deal with you”.

Three Newspapers sales reps including that of Punch, Thisday and Authority together with some vendors were later taken to the army base at Ngwa High school, where the humiliation was said to have continued. The army captain in charge of the base was reported to have released the Newspaper sales reps after ordering the severe beating of Mr. Obi for daring to ‘smile’ before the officer when he was ‘pardoned’.

The two vendors including the 64 year old woman who business name is JECIMA and who was said to have been discharged from the hospital a day before her arrest, were as at the time of filing the report still being held by the army. Recall that late last year, a vendor was arrested by soldiers from the same base for allegedly selling “Biafra Newspapers”. He was later said to have been transferred to the headquarters of the 14 brigade of the Nigerian Army, Ohafia from where he was released after weeks in detention.

Source: The Sun