The Editor of Pinnacle Daily, Sunday Michael Ogwu, has recounted how he was allegedly assaulted by police officers while documenting a demolition exercise in Lugbe, Abuja.
Ogwu alleged that officers attached to the Lugbe Police Division beat him with an electric cable, handcuffed him and seized his phone after he began recording the exercise.
He recounted his ordeal in a video posted online by Pinnacle Daily on Friday.
The journalist said he identified himself as a journalist when the officers approached him, arguing that they could have simply asked to see his credentials if they doubted his profession.
“You approached me and I told you I was a journalist. The simplest thing you would have done, if you doubted, was to have asked for my credentials,” Ogwu said.
He displayed injuries he said he sustained during the alleged assault, including a swollen finger.
“Look at me, look at the bruises on my body. For attempting to do my job, I was beaten mercilessly with an electric cable on my back,” he said.
“I can't use this finger as I'm talking to you. As you can see, it's different and swollen.”
Ogwu said the officers subsequently ordered that he be taken into a vehicle and handcuffed.
He questioned why he was being treated like a criminal despite only documenting the operation.
“He said, ‘Get him into the Hilux.’ It backed towards my direction. He said, ‘Take him inside the Hilux, handcuff him,’” he recounted.
“I said, ‘You're handcuffing me as what, as a criminal?”
According to Ogwu, he also questioned why he should be placed in the same vehicle where suspected criminals had allegedly been detained.
“Where do you want me to sit in that Hilux? You had already moved supposed criminals, people who trade on drugs that you claim you had come to destroy in their hideout, into that pickup. Is that where you want to put me?” he said.
Ogwu said the experience made him question whether he should have walked away from the scene despite his responsibility as a journalist to document events and give voice to people who may otherwise go unheard.
“Within a minute, I was asking myself, for the profession I practice, over the number of years that I've been in this profession, trying to give voice to people who are voiceless,” he said.
“Would it make sense to walk away from this scene, having been treated like a common criminal?”
The alleged assault occurred while Ogwu was documenting what he described as a demolition operation involving police officers and members of a vigilante group.
The International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR) had earlier reported that Ogwu was beaten and had his phone seized while documenting the exercise. Ogwu reportedly said he encountered the operation while taking an evening stroll and began recording it.
The ICIR identified the officer leading the operation as CSP Ukorobo Uchenna, the Divisional Police Officer of the Lugbe Police Division.
However, the FCT Police Command spokesperson, Josephine Adeh, reportedly said the officers involved could not have been attached to the FCT Police Command, adding that the police do not get involved in demolitions and directing inquiries about the exercise to the Federal Capital Territory Administration.
The Coalition for Whistleblower Protection and Press Freedom (CWPPF) has since condemned the alleged assault, harassment and destruction of Ogwu's phones, describing the incident as a threat to press freedom.
Abuja Municipal, Federal Capital Territory, Nigeria
