By Olatunde Dodondawa
Nigeria has lost another journalist who has been missing since October, 13, 2021. Tordue Henry Salem, who worked for Vanguard Newspapers, was found dead in Abuja on Thursday.
Late Salem, who was covering the House of Representatives, was said to have alighted from a cab at Total filling station, close to the Force headquarters, and headed for B.J’s garden, in the company of a female relative.
Thereafter, he reportedly flagged a cab for the lady who left before him, informing her that he was going to Area 8, Garki. But he was never seen until his remains were recovered on Thursday.
Some arrests were reportedly made. Among them was that of a man who was picked for attempting to extort Salem’s family.
The suspect identified as Prince Enyenihi, 25, contacted Mrs Salem on October 26, 2021, via a text message with a concealed number, requesting for N100 million ransom, to be paid as ransom for her husband’s release.
Part of the text message read: “if you don’t pay, Tordue will be killed in seven days. For more information, call this number.” The text message also contained an account number the money should be paid into.
This was followed by a call with a concealed number to Salem’s wife the next day. Mrs Salem requested to speak with her husband, to ascertain he was alive before negotiation would begin. But the caller gave the phone to someone who tried to play along.
The Police swung into action first, by de-encrypting the number that called and traced its owner to a lady in Port Harcourt, Rivers state.
However, during interrogation the lady who owns Joy Skin Care denied culpability, stating rather that a particular number had been calling her line since October 26, 2021.
On further checks operatives discovered that the number was same with that used to contact Mrs. Salem , consequent upon which 25-year-old Enyenihi was arrested on November 5, 2021.
During preliminary investigation, it was discovered that he was next door neighbor to the beautician. During interrogation, he disclosed that he got information of Vanguard reporter’s disappearance on a flyer that went viral on social media, which had the number of Mrs Salem as the contact person to report to if found.
