Police apologise over arrest of Imo newspaper vendors, distributors

The Imo State Police Command has apologised to media practitioners in the state over the recent clampdown on newspaper vendors and distributors. The Commissioner of Police (CP), Abutu Yaro, said the arrests were not arbitrary, but were in the course of investigation into some issues on certain publications that the command was investigating. According to […]

The Imo State Police Command has apologised to media practitioners in the state over the recent clampdown on newspaper vendors and distributors.

The Commissioner of Police (CP), Abutu Yaro, said the arrests were not arbitrary, but were in the course of investigation into some issues on certain publications that the command was investigating.

According to him, the vendors were arrested by operatives of the Intelligence Response Team (IRT) for profiling and analysis over certain publications being circulated in the state.

Speaking when he received the leadership of the Correspondents’ Chapel at the command’s headquarters in Owerri on Tuesday, the commissioner said there was always a synergy between the job of a policeman and a journalist, adding that such synergy should be exploited for the benefit of the society.

He assured that the command would continually facilitate effort that would further enhance and sustain the existing cordial relationship between the media and his command.

Earlier, the correspondents, led by their Chairman, Chris Njoku, said the visit was to bring to the knowledge of the CP the recent unprovoked arrest of the vendors and distributors.

He said, “Vendors and distributors are vital components of newspaper organisations, and anything that affects them directly or indirectly affects us, the journalists.