Missing Journalist, Tordue Salem Found Dead

Mr Tordue Salem, a missing Vanguard reporter, has been discovered dead in Abuja.

Even when the police caught a man who pretended to be a kidnapper in order to extort money from the late journalist’s family,

As of Thursday evening, no information on the recovery of his remains has been disclosed.

The late Benue-born journalist was last seen on Wednesday, October 13th, 2021, while covering the National Assembly’s lower legislative chamber.

He was believed to have left work in a public cab with a female relative for B.J’s garden, which is located near the Total filling station, opposite Force headquarters.

He allegedly signaled a cab for the lady who had left before him from the garden, informing her that he was going to Area 8, Garki. He was never seen again until his body was discovered on Thursday.

According to Vanguard, the Police Intelligence Response Team, or IRT, went into action on October 16th after the matter of the late Tordue’s inexplicable disappearance was reported to it.

A suspect, identified as Prince Enyenihi, 25, was arrested in an effort to extort the family and others who were not named immediately, according to reports.

On October 26, 2021, the suspect, named as Prince Enyenihi, 25, contacted Mrs Salem through text message with a hidden number, asking N100 million in ransom for her husband’s release. “If you don’t pay, Tordue will be killed in seven days,” the text message said. Call this number for further details.” The text message also included an account number to which the funds should be deposited.

This was followed the next day by a call to Salem’s wife from an unknown number. Mrs Salem wanted to talk with her husband first to make sure he was still alive before starting the negotiations. The caller, on the other hand, handed the phone to someone who tried to play along.

When she realized the voice wasn’t her husband’s, she asked the stranger to say their daughter’s name and birth date, a request that was received with total silence on the other end.

Mrs Salem received another call from an unknown number later that evening, asking if her husband had been released. The perplexed woman was alleged to have inquired as to why the caller’s phone number was hidden.

On October 27, another SMS arrived on a bulk text messaging platform, demanding that the family pay the N100 million ransom by the next day, or Salem would be killed.

The police responded first, decrypting the phone number that had been phoned and tracing its owner to a woman in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

During questioning, however, the owner of Joy Skin Care denied any wrongdoing, claiming instead that a certain number had been phoning her line since October 26, 2021.

When security agents checked the number, they determined it was the same as the one used to contact Mrs Salem, and Prince Enyenihi was finally apprehended on November 5th, 2021.

According to security operatives’ first inquiry, Prince Enyenihi lived next door to the beautician.

During questioning, he said that he learned of the Vanguard reporter’s abduction via a leaflet that went viral on social media and included Mrs Salem’s phone number as the person to call if discovered.

The suspect further alleged that he sent the text messages without his female neighbor’s knowledge, and that he obtained her phone number and account information from her Facebook page.

He said, “I knew the family wouldn’t pay the money. I used the owner of Joy beauty skin care ‘s account details in order to punish her for always talking to me anyhow.”

The Police couldn’t be reached immediately.