The Kwara State correspondent of The Point newspaper, Mr. Abdulrasheed Akogun, was last Thursday beaten up and hurled in a police cell for hours, during his coverage of a protest march against the state government by some landlords in Ilorin, the state capital.
According to him, he was attacked on the orders of the Chief Security Officer to Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed.
He said those who descended on him were policemen and operatives of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps attached to the Government House, Ilorin, and that the guards smashed his camera and damaged his phone, before detaining him in a police cell for six hours.
Recounting his ordeal, Akogun said, “At exactly 9:45am on that fateful day, I received a call about an ongoing demolition of houses at the Kulende area of Ilorin metropolis. I jumped and off I went, without even taking my bath first.
“On getting to the scene of the demolition, I met scores of stern-looking policemen and operatives of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps, as well as some touts brandishing axes and other dangerous weapons.
“I spoke with many of the victims of the demolition exercise, who lamented and wailed as they rained curses on the state government. The exercise ended at exactly 11:15am and the residents immediately mobilised in their hundreds and embarked on a protest to the Government House, Ilorin. I followed the protesting victims in pursuit of my legitimate duty as a journalist.
Continuing, he said, “The aggrieved landlords claimed to have bought land from the Kwara State Bureau of Lands and got all the necessary documents, only to be asked to pay another sum by the State government under the alleged guise of wanting to settle the original owners of the land (Alangua Kulende). They grudgingly complied.
“According to them, after paying for the same land twice, the Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed-led administration failed to make payment to the original owners of the land, who invaded the area and demolished houses with reckless abandon in the early hours of Thursday, May 31, 2018.
“When we arrived at the Government House gate, the protest continued smoothly and peacefully until some overzealous security men at the entrance instructed me to stop the video-recording of the protesters, an order which I vehemently resisted.
Akogun added, “On the orders of the Chief Security Officer, Government House, my camera was seized and smashed by some of the security men, who also damaged the screen of my phone, beat me mercilessly, pepper-sprayed me and dumped me inside a cell with common criminals for about six hours at the ‘A’ Division.
“For the six hours I spent in the cell, I was rendered incommunicado, denied access to my lawyers and disallowed from contacting either colleagues or family members to intimate them with my ordeal.”
He noted that it took the intervention of a friend, Comrade Ibrahim Sheriff, who alerted the state Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, Comerade Abiodun Abdulkareem, who, in turn, swung into action after getting details of what transpired.
“The NUJ chairman, along with the Zonal Secretary of the union, Comrade
Olatidoye Akeem, secured my release at exactly 7:20pm,” Akogun said.
