A journalist working for Atar Communication, the parent company of Liberty TV/Radio, was found dead in Abuja on Wednesday, five days after being reported missing.
Joel Waksi, an On-Air Personality (OAP) with the media outfit, had left the office around 9 PM on Friday and was expected to return by 2 PM the following day at the Mpape office.
Atar Communication’s Group General Manager, Balarabe Muhammad, confirmed the incident to Newsmen.
He stated that the police in the Mpape division found Waksi’s body near the Panteka area of the community. His body was then taken to the Kubwa General Hospital morgue.
Muhammad reported that Waksi had been stabbed around the neck and that his phone was missing.
“It is suspected that he was attacked by phone snatchers,” Muhammad said, adding that Waksi had survived a similar attack two months earlier, during which he was stabbed below the abdomen and received treatment.
Waksi was supposed to be on break until Monday, having worked the night shift. However, due to internal arrangements among colleagues during public holidays, he was scheduled to return to duty the following afternoon. When he failed to appear, concerns grew.
Known for his hard work and creativity, Waksi was well-regarded by his colleagues, phone snatching has become increasingly prevalent in certain areas of Mpape town and other Federal Capital Territory (FCT) suburbs, sometimes resulting in fatalities.
The spokesperson for the FCT police command, SP Josephine Adeh, had not responded to inquiries about the incident at the time of this report.
