A journalist from Atar Communication, the owners of Liberty TV/Radio, was found dead in Abuja on Wednesday, five days after he was reported missing.
Joel Waksi, an On-Air Personality (OAP) for the media outlet, was alleged to have left the workplace about 9 p.m. on Friday and was supposed to return to work at the station’s Mpape office by 2 p.m. the next day.
The Group General Manager (GGM) of Atar Communication, Balarabe Muhammad, confirmed the incident to City & Crime, saying the police in Mpape division revealed that his corpse was found in the Panteka area of the community and transferred to the Kubwa General Hospital mortuary.
He revealed that Waksi had been stabbed around the neck, and his phone was missing.
He said, “It was suspected that he was attacked by the phone snatchers,” adding that two months back, he survived a similar attack, where he was stabbed below his abdomen, but he was treated.
“He was supposed to be on break till Monday, having worked at night; however, due to internal arrangements among colleagues during such public holidays, he was billed to report back to duty the next day afternoon, but he never did.’’
Joel, as he was fondly called among his colleagues, was regarded to be a tireless and innovative employee.
According to City & Crime, the scourge of phone snatchers is becoming increasingly prominent in several black areas in Mpape town, as well as some designated Federal Capital Territory (FCT) suburbs, resulting in the death of some victims.
The spokesman for the FCT police command, SP Josephine Adeh, had not responded to inquiries on the incident as at the time of reporting this story.
