Elo Edremoda
A journalist with the Vanguard newspapers was on Saturday morning, assaulted by policemen attached to the Ovwian/Aladja Police Division in the Udu council area of Delta state.
The journalist, Akpokona Omafuaire, claimed that after presenting his identity card, he was pounced upon by the eight operatives led by one Sergeant Godspower, who reportedly hit him with a machete.
He said his car was also vandalized in the process.
According to Omafuaire, he was on his way for an official assignment, when he met a roadblock.
“I was driving out of my street. They blocked near my street entrance, that I cannot go out. I told them I am a journalist and showed them my ID card.
“Before I knew it, they started attacking me, about eight of them and that I can go and write whatever I liked. I begged them to allow me to pass but Sergeant Godspower refused and harassed me.
“His other colleagues joined him and he (Sergeant Godspower) cut my back with a machete, saying we journalists are supporting the #EndSARS protesters. They vandalized my car. I don’t know what to do now,” Omafuaire stated.
In a swift reaction, the Delta State Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), has condemned the attack on the Vanguard reporter.
In a statement jointly signed by the Chairman and Secretary, Comrades Michael Ikeogwu and Patrick Ochei respectively, the Union called on the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Mohammed Hafiz Inuwa, to immediately fish out the policemen involved in the molestation of the journalist and sanction them.
The NUJ further reminded the CP that journalists are part of those on essential duty as enunciated and clarified by the Governor of Delta State, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa in his address while declaring the 48 hours curfew to restore sanity in the state after hoodlums hijacked the #EndSARS Protest.
“Journalists should not be objects of attacks by the police while carrying out their legitimate functions. The #EndSARS protesters are attacking journalists and media houses and at the same time, the police are assaulting us. Where do we run to?
“We insist that the Police Commissioner must fish out Sergeant Godspower and other accomplices in this show of extreme power, otherwise we will sever ties with the police in the State,” parts of the statement read.
It also cautioned the Police to leave journalists out of their quagmire, positing that Nigeria is in this dire situation today because of police recklessness and brutality.
