How Journalist Reporting ‘Trader Moni’ Was Man-handled Inside Wuse Market

A newly recruited reporter with THE WHISTLER was on Thursday rough-handled by traders at the popular Wuse Market in Abuja because she couldn’t produce her identity card.

The reporter, Chibuzor Kalu, was in the market to interview traders on the Federal Government empowerment programme “Trader Moni” but forget her I.D. card in the office.

Narrating her ordeal to colleagues in the newsroom, the reporter stated that many of the traders were suspicious of her motive and demanded she showed her office I.D card.

“Some of them looked at me with deep suspicion and asked for my I.D. and when I tried to convince them that I forgot it in the office while rushing out, they threatened to throw me out of the shops,” she narrated.

“Other traders who had our voices started coming around and within minutes many people had gathered to find out what was happening. I showed them my National Identity Card, but they were not satisfied and wanted to see my journalist identification,

“There was one trader who held me by the neck and accused me of being a secret agent. I pleaded with them that I wasn’t impersonating a journalist and even asked them to check our website. One of them even said I was lying and that I had already planned to use the website,

“They said they were going to take me to the chairman of the market for proper interrogation. They were almost dragging me to the chairman when I heard one of the traders speaking Igbo and I spoke to him, explaining my mission at the market,

“He then advised me to leave the market or go to another section of the market. He was the one that helped me talk to the others before I was allowed to go. It was an embarrassing experience I will never forget,” she declared.

However, the reporter persisted and went ahead to talk to other traders who were willing to share their opinion on ‘Trader Moni’ recently launched by the FG to empower traders in the country.

Kalu, who joined THE WHISTLER one week ago, is a graduate of Mass Communication from the University of Benin.