13th December 2024 12:39:49 PM
2 mins readA journalist with Accra-based TV3, Godwin Asediba, received a threat on his life while covering the recollation of results from four constituencies in the Eastern Region at the Tesano Police Depot in Accra on Thursday.
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While seeking the views of the opposing sides, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC), he faced resistance from the former, who accused him of being unfair and calling results, a claim he shot down, saying "we haven't called any results."He then engaged the NDC, following consistent resistance. Later in the video, gone viral, an unknown individual threatened to physically harm the journalist.
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It took the intervention of the police to whisk the journalist away to prevent him from suffering any harm.Recouting his poignant experience, which he described as "extremely tense," the journalist in a post on Instagram wrote, "This, coupled with the harassment and attacks I endured earlier during the elections, has been an eye-opener. I strongly believe the GJA still has a lot of work to do to protect journalists.
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"According to him, the maltreatment of journalists in the country continues to fester, as "people feel free to do anything they want to a journalist without fear of consequences because they know they will go scot-free in the end.""This is completely unacceptable!" he added. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Godwin Asediba (@godwin.
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asediba)The recipient of the “Best in Community Reporting in West Africa” award at the 2024 Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID) Excellence in Journalism Awards held in Abuja, Nigeria, further shared other harrowing post-election violent experiences when some thugs thronged the Gas House in Dzorwulu while reporting.
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The situation escalated after a military deployment, leading to chaos and panic in the area—where gunshots were fired.Mr Asediba revealed that he was almost chocked to death and immediately bolted after he was released."I’ve never run this fast in my life as a journalist. I was grabbed by the neck but was later saved when some of the thugs recognized me after they realized I was live," the journalist wrote.
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He also shared how "a colleague journalist, a cameraman, was slapped in the face and ended up urinating on himself out of fear." View this post on Instagram A post shared by Godwin Asediba (@godwin.asediba)Prior to the 2024 polls, several stakeholders, including the Ghana Journalist Association (GJA), cautioned the public and political parties against harming any journalist during their line of work.
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The caution fell on deaf ears as journalists were attacked at Awutu Senya East and other areas during this year's polls, according to Albert Kwabena Dwumfour, the president of the GJA.Presently, the Police are working to curb any post-election violent incident from occurring after the arrest of 123 individuals.
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