Police Storm Broadcast Station, Arrest Guest During Live TV Show

The police in Abia State, South-east Nigeria, stormed a television station ABN TV and arrested a guest Udensi Donald during a live programme.

The incident happened on Tuesday in Umuahia. The programme, Youth Rendezvous, was anchored by Grace Onyekachi.

The Director of the Radio and TV station, Ifeanyi Okali, who disclosed this in a statement on Wednesday, said the management was “worried by the invasion of our broadcast station” by the police operatives.

Mr Okali said the incident happened at about 2:40 p.m. and that the police claimed that Uche Udensi, an elder brother of the guest, had written a petition against him over a family matter.

“Despite repeated pleas by our staff to the officers to allow the programme to come to an end before the guest could be arrested, they insisted (on) whisking him away while the live programme was on.

“We find this very provocative and indeed an act of overzealousness by the officers who obviously acted in clear contravention of the rule of engagement,” he said.

Mr Okali, in the statement, said he contacted the Commissioner of Police in Abia State, Kenechukwu Onwuemelie, who invited some staff members of the station to the police headquarters.

The director said some police operatives at the police headquarters “barricaded the door and harassed, intimidated and threatened to detain them”. They were prevented from seeing the police commissioner, he said, adding that what happened “clearly negates the enhanced police-civil relations” often campaigned for by the police commissioner.

‘We lost some of our broadcast equipment’

Mr Okali said that during the police invasion, some of the station’s broadcast equipment was damaged, including a laptop, camera, and microphones.

“It has left us with huge financial losses. We are calling for the replacement of the affected tools,” he said.

The director said the station considers the incident as “an attack on press freedom and most especially open violation of the human right to expression,” given that it happened during a live programme where important issues, such as youth development, were being discussed.