Police attack journalists during Niger Assembly impeachment saga

Policemen deployed in the Niger State House of Assembly on Tuesday assaulted journalists, who were at thre Assembly complex to cover the unfolding impeachment saga in the state.

On Tuesday morning, the police had locked the gate to prevent members and staff of the Assembly, journalists and guests from entering or going out of the House.

The move, it was learnt, was to prevent the lawmakers from forming a quorum to move for the impeachment of the state Governor, Dr. Babangida Aliyu.

It was reliably gathered that the Niger State Assistant Commissioner of Police (Operations), Emmanuel Olokor, ordered that nobody be allowed in or out of the premises as there were feelers that the Mace, the symbol of authority of the Assembly, was missing.

But when the Clerk of the Assembly, Abdullahi Kagara, got to the gate, the Policemen, who barricaded the gate, opened for him but barred journalists, who tried to walk into the complex.

The DPO in charge of the Assembly, ASP Thomas Louis, rushed in and hit the NTA Reporter, Suleiman Kodogi, and Samson Alfa, a reporter with Standard Newspapers.

The policemen also smashed the mobile telephone set of John Ogiji of the Guardian after the pictures he had snapped were deleted by a Police officer.

The PUNCH Correspondent, Enyioha Opara, also lost his wristwatch during the melee.

When the leadership of the Nigerian Union of Journalists, led by the Secretary, Abu Nmodu intervened, the efforts were in futility as all journalists remained locked out on the instruction of Olokor.

Nmodu said, “We, the NUJ, condemn in totality this harassment and intimidation on journalists that are going about their legitimate duties by the Police.

“It is unfortunate that this is coming barely two days after we marked the World Press Freedom Day.”

He however appealed to journalists to conduct themselves peacefully saying, “The Union will pursue the case and ensure there is an end to this continuous harassment.”

The Policemen kept shouting, “We will not open the gate; it is an order from above.”

Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Ibrahim Gambari, said there was no such order that journalists should be barred from the Assembly complex.

“The men at the Assembly complex are on their own; we only asked them to ensure peace and orderliness and not to harass journalists. The Police have the mandate to have good working relationship with pressmen. We cannot infringe on the right of journalists,” Gambari added.