CALABAR – What began as a minor argument between two journalists ended in bloodshed on Wednesday, April 29, 2026, when a reporter allegedly stabbed his colleague with a broken bottle at the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Press Centre in Calabar, Cross River State.<\/p>\n
The incident, which has shocked the state\u2019s media community, saw Ubon Ekanem, a reporter with _Forefront Magazine, allegedly attack Edem Achibong, a reporter with News Emperor Magazine_, during a heated dispute.<\/p>\n
How It all Happened
\nAccording to Achibong, the confrontation happened at about 7:30 pm at the NUJ press centre. The two were arguing over \u201ca little matter that should not result to that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Achibong said Ekanem suddenly hit him with a broken bottle during the altercation.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone around was surprised,\u201d Achibong told News Emperor. \u201cThey could not really comprehend why and how a journalist could be so hot-tempered and deadly to stab his fellow journalist to the extent that he almost stabbed him to death.\u201d<\/p>\n
Multiple eyewitnesses described the attack as \u201cjungle justice\u201d passed by Ekanem on Achibong.<\/p>\n
NUJ Reacts
\nThe incident has left members of the NUJ, Calabar Chapter, in disbelief. Journalists, who routinely report violence committed by others, found themselves at the center of a violent episode.<\/p>\n
At the time of filing this report, the matter is still under investigation. It remains unclear if Ekanem has been formally arrested or charged.<\/p>\n
It was really a Dark Day for the Pen Profession
\nThe attack has raised fresh concerns about safety and conduct within the media fraternity. <\/p>\n
For a profession that prides itself on holding others accountable, the stabbing has become a painful reminder that journalists are not immune to the same tensions and conflicts they report.<\/p>\n
\u201cAbsurdity,\u201d one senior journalist in Calabar said. \u201cThis is a thing we report when we see others do it. But now it\u2019s us.\u201d<\/p>\n
The NUJ leadership in Cross River State is yet to issue an official statement, but sources say disciplinary action is being considered pending the outcome of the police investigation.<\/p>\n
News Emperor will continue to monitor the situation and update readers as details emerge.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Mr.Achibong in a pool of blood.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1877,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1876","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsemperormagazines.com.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1876","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsemperormagazines.com.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsemperormagazines.com.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsemperormagazines.com.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsemperormagazines.com.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1876"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/newsemperormagazines.com.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1876\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1878,"href":"https:\/\/newsemperormagazines.com.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1876\/revisions\/1878"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsemperormagazines.com.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1877"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsemperormagazines.com.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1876"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsemperormagazines.com.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1876"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsemperormagazines.com.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1876"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}