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Raising concern over their future
Betty Abah, Winner, CHILD-FRIENDLY REPORTING, at the 17th DAME
 The demolition of illegal structures around the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, was aimed at preserving the city's original master plan. Market places, shops, schools, places of worship, health centres and residential buildings were affected. The demolition led to the displacement of an estimated 800,000 people, a large percentage of whom were children.
Betty Abah, in a report, “The dreams the bulldozers killed”, which won the Child Friendly Journalist category, highlighted the plight of the displaced children who were traumatized by the demolition. Not only were they displaced, from home, they were also forced out of school, which meant that their dreams of becoming somebody in life could be shattered.
The report published in Tell magazine of August 27, 2007, detailed the harrowing experience children went through during the exercise. Accounts of children victims would no doubt move anybody that reads the story. Hear an account of one of the children in the report. “I want to go back to school and learn more things so that I can become an actor like Jim Iyke”, said Chukwuma, one of the displaced children.
Born March 6, 1974, Abah is a product of Wesley High School, Oturkpo and the University of Calabar, from where she bagged a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and Literary Studies. She began her journalism career in 2001 with Newswatch magazine and later moved to Hallmark newspapers from where she joined Tell magazine in 2004 as a senior reporter. She was promoted staff writer in November 2005 and senior writer/health correspondent 10 months later.
She is now the project officer/co-editor, Environment Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN). She also presents Tobacco and you, a weekly tobacco control programme ,on Metro FM 97.6, Capital FM 92.7, Abuja and Pyramid FM193.5
An Alfred Friendly Press fellow, this is her first time in the DAME roll of honour.
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