Henry Emeana
Authorities of Imo state police command have finally opened up on issues surrounding the incessant arrest and detention of Newspaper vendors and distribution agents in Owerri .
The commissioner of police CP Abutu Yaro, explained that the nspector General of Police Intelligence Response Team has been on the trail of certain persons who under the guise of newspaper vendors and distribution perpetrates serious crime,
The CP made this disclosure while playing host to journalists from the correspondents chapel of the NUJ who visited him over the matter on Tuesday ..
According to the police boss,” some of them even go ahead to sale publications that are unlicensed and untrue to members of the public thereby creating tension in the already tensed atmosphere.”
He promised to look into the matter and ensure that anyone not found wanting does not suffer for a crime he or she did not commit.
On their part, journalists expressed displeasure over the matter ,even as they requested for a mutual and conducive working relationship between the press and the police in the face of the ongoing insecurity challenges.
The journalists enjoined police CP to allow them do their job, insisting that an attempt to gag the press in the state will not work.
