…As family demands more clarification from police over gaps in death report

By Emma Ujah & Emma Elebeke, Abuja

The Management of Vanguard Media Limited has condoled with the family of it late reporter, Tordue Salem, who was initially reported missing but eventually declared dead by the police after one month of his disappearance.

The Vanguard team, which was led by the Editor Northern Operations, Mr. Soni Daniel, visited the family house today in Abuja and met with Tordue’s wife, Deve Salem, his five-year-old daughter, Avaana Salem, elder sister, Mrs. Elizabeth Kuraun and the head of the family, Dr. Jeffrey Kuraun.

The Northern Region Editor expressed deep sympathy with the family and prayed God to grant them the grace to bear with the irreparable loss, which he said had also thrown the company and its workers into a mourning mood since the sad news of his demise was broken by the police.

“We are here on behalf of the publisher, management and staff of Vanguard Media Limited to sympathise with you on this very sad and unfortunate incident, which has taken away Tordue, one of our very best reporters at the National Assembly.

“We are as devastated as the family by the news of the untimely loss of a courageous, resourceful, diligent and hard-working journalist, who related very well with his colleagues both in Vanguard Newspaper and the House of Representatives.

“The late Tordue was a team player and a news hunter, who will be greatly missed by the company and his colleagues while his death has thrown all of us into mourning since the sad news was broken by the police last week,” he said.

Mr. Daniel however pledged the company’s readiness to work with the family and the law enforcement agencies to unravel the mystery of Mr. Salem’s death.

In his response, the head of the family, Dr. Jeffrey Kuraun, said that the death of Mr. Salem,  had left a wide gap in that family that would be impossible to fill, as he died, leaving a young wife and a very tender daughter.

READ ALSO: Tordue Salem: We’ll seek more clarifications from police —Family

He expressed gratitude to the management and staff of Vanguard Newspaper for all the steps they had taken to find Tordue since he was first reported missing last month and for standing by the family in its moment of grief.

Dr. Kuraun however, appealed to Vanguard Newspaper, the Nigerian press and public spirited Nigerians to impress upon the Nigerian security agencies to take further steps to unmask those behind the killing of Mr. Salem and bring them to justice.

According to him, there are many unanswered questions thrown up by the death report produced and presented to the media by the police, saying that the police report still sounded like a fable to the family.

“We still need the police to come up with more answers to fill the yawning gaps thrown by the report of Tordue’s disappearance and eventual declaration of his death,” Dr. Kuraun said.

Dr. Kuraun said one of the immediate answers the police needed to provide to the family was the person who took Tordue’s body to the morgue, when it was deposited there and who paid for the services and why it become impossible for the Wuse General Hospital to know his identity despite the retrieval of three identity cards and two ATM cards from the late journalist.

The head of the family said that the members of the family were still asking why the journalist was killed and by whom.