Journalists escape death as stray bullet hits NUJ chapel

Sudden death of some Journalists in Kaduna
was averted on Wednesday night as a strange
bullet from nowhere narrowly missed hitting
them as they sat in group, relaxing at the
Secretariat of the Correspondents’ Chapel of
Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) after the
day’s work.
The bullet landed on the floor, close to where
the Journalists were sitting at about 7PM with
a shattering sound, akin to that of a fallen
broken bottle.
Upon close examination, the State
correspondent of Hausa Leadership, Abdullahi
Tumburkai, who was standing very close to
the point where the bullet landed, discovered
that the object was hot at the time it hit the
ground.
“This is a live bullet, this is a live bullet”,
Tumburkai shouted, panicking.
The Journalists had to hurry up, cutting short
their relaxation, and abandoned their food and
drinks half way to vacate the Secretariat along
Muhammadu Buhari Way.
They could not actually ascertain the direction
the bullet was coming from after much
conjectures among them, but they noted that
the Secretariat is in the neighbourhood of
Military residence and formations.
Journalists who witnessed the heart beating
incident include; Sam Adzege of Verbatim
Magazine, Olu Ajayi of Vangaurd newspaper,
Noah Ebije of The Sun newspaper, Nura Ringim
of BBC, Hausa Service, Alexander Muse of
National Mirror, Godwin Isenyo of Punch, Alhaji
Tajudeen Tijjani, a veteran Journalist, Sam
Otitolaye of GH Weekly, Tajudeen Suleiman of
TELL Magazine, amongst other non
Journalists.
Reacting to the incident, Chairman,
Correspondent Chapel, Mr. Joseph Midat, said
he was shocked when he heard of the incident.
Midat called on the State Government and
other security agencies to ensure that security
is beefed up in the State for the safety of
Journalists and all persons in the State.
He said, “I want to believe that the bullet that
came from unknown place may have been
mishandled by an overzealous security officer
and we want to believe that it was not
targeted at our members, but it is an
indication that security in the State need to be
tightened for the security of the entire people
of the State, including Journalists:”.