Security operatives of IGP Response Team (IRT) in Imo State have arrested seven newspaper vendors in Owerri, the stat capital.
Their arrest is coming few days after the officers of the Nigeria Police Force arrested the sales representative of the New Telegraph newspaper in the state, Mr. Chucks Ugwuibe.
The IGP team swooped on the newspaper stand in Owerri and arrested the vendors on Monday morning.
The Imo State Police Command Public Relations Officers, SP Orlando Ikeokwu, refused to respond to a text message sent to him. Calls put across to his mobile phone were left unanswered.
Meanwhile, the whereabouts of the New Telegraph sales representative has remained unknown.
The sales representative was arrested last Tuesday at Banana Junction, Orlu during a routine weekly trip to collect sales returns for his employers.
A police team reportedly swooped on the newsstand and whisked him away alongside other victims. Since his arrest, no one seems to know for sure where he is being held or what has become of him.
Ugwuibe’s wife who was heavily pregnant subsequently had a premature delivery through Caesarian Section three days after her husband’s arrest.
When contacted earlier, the state Police spokesman said he was yet to be briefed about the said arrest and promised to get back to our correspondent.
Meanwhile, the Association of Newspaper Sales Representatives, Imo State Chapter, has condemned the arrest of Ugwuibe.
In a press release, he personally signed, Chairman of the association, Mr Udofia Alex Imoh, noted that Ugwuibe was arrested while on his official duties at Orlu. “He was actually trying to take his weekly returns from a vendor when he was arrested,” the release read.
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