*Refers to NEC again
By Achadu Gabriel, Kaduna
Mr. Idibia Gabriel, the Kaduna based investigative journalist who was arrested, tortured and brutalized by operatives of Nigerian police, Kaduna state command, is moving from eye centre to another seeking for the treatment of eye injury he sustained as a result of the assault.
He was on Friday 5th July 2024 referred back to National Eye Centre (NEC), a Federal Medical hospital located in Kaduna for diagnosis test by Dr. Paul Favour.
Idibia who was appointment, was referred from 44 army reference hospital Kaduna for eye diagnosis test for the second time after a thorough routine check on his eye on the Friday morning by doctors.
His referral request paper to NEC, dated 5th July 2024, read in parts: “44 Nigerian Army Reference Hospital, 7 Sokoto Raid, Kaduna. Request for Special Examination. F.MED 12. To: Laboratory/X- Ray, urgent, routine. Diagnosis: flashes of light? Pvd blow injury to the left eye -4/52, as clinically relevant information”.
This is against the rumours making round that the journalist was arrested but did not sustained any eye injury or tortured by police, as amplified by sections of unpatriotic enemies of journalists who are self centered, and does not believe in principle proper verification.
Recalled that the victim journalist and two others were arrested by police for taken snapshot of large number of herds of cattle Shepherded by a number of uniform policemen along Kachia highway, around U/Boro in Sabon Tasha area of Kaduna town on 11th June 2024, and have been going places seeking for the eye injury treatment.
According to the victim journalist, who consulted with the police before taken the picture, his cell phone and identity card were seized before he was arrested by police and taken to CID office in Kaduna where he was detained, physically tortured and mentally brutalized before released.
Several responsible private organization, including Coalition for Whistleblowers Protection and Press Freedom (CWPPF), Centre for Journalism, Innovation and Development (CJID), and other journalists protection bodies have
condemned Nigerian police action, describing it as unlawful and fall far below standard practice.
