By Joycelyn Ellakeche Adah
Police operatives in Lugbe, Abuja, have been accused of beating a journalist with an electric cable during a demolition exercise while he attempted to document the operation.
The Coalition for Whistleblower Protection and Press Freedom (CWPPF) said the Editor of Pinnacle Daily, Sunday Michael Ogwu, was allegedly beaten twice by officers of the Lugbe Police Division and members of the Vigilante Group of Nigeria (VGN) on Wednesday.
According to the coalition, Ogwu was taking a stroll around the Lugbe Federal Housing Estate at about 5:30 p.m. when he encountered the joint demolition operation involving police officers and VGN personnel.
It alleged that the journalist brought out his mobile phone to document the exercise, prompting a police officer to forcibly seize the device.
Despite identifying himself as a journalist and attempting to speak with the team leader, Ogwu was allegedly surrounded by the officers and ordered into a patrol van.
The coalition said he refused, insisting that he was a journalist and had committed no offence, after which the officer in charge allegedly ordered that he be flogged with an electric cable.
But the alleged assault did not end there.
CWPPF said that after his phone was returned and Ogwu moved about 100 metres away to record the incident and send a distress message to his media organisation, the officers allegedly pursued him, dragged him back to the demolition site and subjected him to a second beating.
The officer in charge allegedly ordered the second assault, declaring that the first beating “was not enough.”
The coalition said the attack left Ogwu physically injured and his mobile phone severely damaged before passersby intervened and urged him to leave the scene.
Condemning the incident, CWPPF described the alleged assault as “unprovoked brutality and lawlessness,” insisting that journalists have a right to document public operations carried out by state authorities.
The coalition said the alleged use of an electric cable to assault a journalist for performing his professional duties was unacceptable and demanded an immediate investigation.
It called on the Inspector-General of Police, Tunji Disu, and the FCT Police Command to identify and discipline the police officers and VGN personnel allegedly involved in the assault.
CWPPF also demanded full compensation for Ogwu’s damaged phone, payment of his medical expenses and a formal public apology to the journalist and the management of Pinnacle Daily.
The coalition further urged the police authorities to direct all divisions across the FCT to stop the intimidation, harassment and assault of journalists covering public events.
CWPPF reiterated that journalism is not a crime and vowed to continue advocating for a safe environment where journalists can perform their constitutional duties without fear of intimidation or retaliation
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