By EZEKIEL DONTINNA
The treatment given to Journalists as front line workers in the face of this COVID-19 pandemic, has been described as unfair considering the risk they are exposed to in the course of their duty.
The Speaker, Plateau State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Abok Ayuba, stated this yesterday, while receiving the State Palliatives Committee of the Nigeria Union of Journalists [NUJ] who paid him courtesy visit in Jos, the state capital.
The Speaker said, “we have been working with Journalists and as a young person, we know the important role you play in giving information to the society.
“You have been doing that to inform people about what we do as their representatives and also been educating people about the dreaded pandemic. You have always been in the front line and sincerely speaking, I would say the treatment of Journalists has not been fair,” he assured.
Abok, promised to take the plight of the Journalists in the State to the Governor of Plateau State, Rt. Hon. Simon Bako Lalong on how they would be able to assist Journalists in the face of this pandemic stressing that, apart from being a Journalist, they do have family to take of too.
Earlier, the State Chairman of Nigeria Union of Journalists [NUJ], Paul Jatau disclosed that over seventeen Journalists have died with COVID-19 and they felt since nobody was making a case for the Journalists, the council decided to constitute a Palliative Committee to help its members in the face of this pandemic.
On her part, the Palliatives Committee Chairman of the State NUJ, Mrs. Jennifer Yarima, thanked the Speaker for his kind gesture to supporting Journalists in the state saying, “we are very grateful to some of you who have considered supporting Journalists. You are the first person who has done this to us and we want thank you, Sir. God bless you, and like Oliver Twist, we always ask for more”.
In the same vein, the Clinic Director of Dynamic Orthotics and Prosthetics Nigeria Limited, Mr. ZingakNengakDeshi, has donated Hand Sanitizers and Face-marks to the NUJ Palliatives Committee to help protect them in course of their duty, describing Journalists as foot soldiers in the fight against the pandemic.
