Monday, August 18, 2008

WHO KILL OUR NIGERIA JOURNALIST

Gunmen Kill Pedro’s Former Aide, Abayomi Ogundeji3 hours ago, 395 views Unidentified gunmen, yesterday, killed Abayomi Ogundeji, former media aide of Chief Olufemi Pedro, former deputy governor of Lagos State, and governorship candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the state. The late Ogundeji was until his death, a part-time member of the editorial board of ThisDay newspaper gathered that he was shot dead around 10.30 p.m, around Dopemu (near Tower Aluminium), yesterday, by the gunmen. Sources told mr NIGERIA NEWS that the gunmen asked him to open his car door but he refused and was shot in the process. Ogundeji attended the University of Ibadan and was the PRO of the Students’ Union. He was a graduate of History. After his graduation, he worked with The African Guardian magazine. He wrote for the Arts & Life column of the magazine and later worked with The Week magazine after the proscription of The Guardian. He returned to The African Guardian after it was deproscribed, and was the chairman of the NUJ chapel. He was sacked by The Guardian because of his union activities in 1997. Immediately, he joined The Punch newspapers as Assistant Features Editor and columnist. Shortly after his promotion as Features Editor at The Punch, he left for a Commonwealth Fellowship in the U.K. When he returned he was employed to edit The Comet on Sunday. After a change of ownership of The Comet, he left the paper. He later worked for Olufemi Pedro as media aide, and while still working for Pedro, he joined the This Day editorial board on part-time basis. He was yet to draw his first salary at ThisDay before he was fatally shot yesterday. In an interview he granted Tessy Okoye of The Sun , he said that journalism was a profession that filled him with pride and that it was a great honour and privilege for him to be a journalist.