News editor Nansok Sallah, of the Nigerian government-owned radio station Highland FM, has been found lying face-down in a shallow stream under a bridge less than 200 meters from a military checkpoint in the central Nigerian city of Jos,

Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), a US-based media watchdog, has urged the Nigerian authorities to launch a ‘thorough and transparent’ investigation into the murder of the radio journalist whose body was found on Thursday morning.

In a statement issued yesterday, CPJ quoted Highland FM General Manager, Terzungwe Wua saying the journalist’s body bore no bruises, however, a wound on the back of his right ear was noticeable. Sallah’s colleagues told CPJ they suspected he had been murdered, because his valuables, including 6,100 naira, were not stolen.

Sallah produced a weekly talkback program called Highland Profile. The journalist’s colleagues told CPJ that he had not reported any threats and that the motive of the murder remained unclear.

‘We mourn the death of Nansok Sallah and extend our condolences to his family, friends, and colleagues,’ said CPJ Africa Advocacy Coordinator Mohamed Keita. ‘Authorities in Jos must pursue all leads in tracking his killer and bring those responsible to justice.’

Wua described Sallah as a ‘cool-headed man who did his job diligently.’ Prior to joining Highland FM three years ago, Sallah worked for Cool FM in Abuja, the capital, as well as Plateau State Radio and Television.

Journalist Enenche Akogwu, 31, who worked as a correspondent in Kano for private news station Channels Television, was shot and killed Friday while reporting on coordinated attacks there claimed by the radical Islamist sect known as Boko Haram.

In October, Zakariya Isa, a journalist for the state-run Nigerian Television Authority, was killed by Boko Haram gunmen in the northeastern city of Maiduguri, allegedly over stories he filed.