Nigerian soldiers hit and detain journalist Dele Fasan, thugs attack 3 journalists covering election

On February 23, at least seven soldiers arrested and handcuffed journalist Dele Fasan and hit him with a gun as he filmed at the scene of a planned protest in Nigeria’s southern Delta State, according to news reports and Fasan, who spoke to CPJ by phone.

Fasan, regional bureau chief for the privately owned Galaxy Television, told CPJ that he was using his phone to film people and soldiers arriving at the site of a planned protest over economic hardship in Uvwie, part of the city of Warri, when a soldier demanded that he hand over his phone.

Fasan said he refused and presented his press identification, but one soldier hit him in the chest with a gun and ordered him into their van. The journalist said the soldiers accused him of resisting arrest, handcuffed him, and drove him around for an hour, during which time they took his phone and deleted the images that he had shot that morning.

When the military van returned to the site, a senior military official directed the soldiers to release the journalist without charge, which they did, according to Fasan and Gbenga Ahmed, a camera operator with ITV, who witnessed the event and spoke with CPJ.

Disrupted vote counting

Separately, on February 17, unidentified men disrupted vote counting for a governorship election primary for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) party in a hotel in Benin City, capital of southern Edo State, attacked at least three journalists covering the event, and destroyed an unknown number of cameras, laptops, and tripods, according to news reports, a journalist who was at the event, and Festus Alenkhe, chairperson of the Nigeria Union of Journalists in Edo State, both of whom spoke with CPJ.

Two APC factions were simultaneously collating votes and announcing results when one group’s process was violently disrupted, according to media reports.

Fortune Oyem, a reporter with the state-owned Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria, told CPJ that he was slapped and lost his digital voice recorder as he ran from the assailants. He also said he witnessed a reporter with the state-owned Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) being beaten. CPJ phoned the NTA reporter who declined to comment.

Bernard Akede of News Central TV said in an interview with his outlet that he was hit, causing his lip to bleed, his phone was seized, although later retrieved, and his tripod was damaged. He said at least two other reporters fled the assailants, and several had their cameras, laptops, and tripods destroyed.

A video by AIT Live showed chairs overturned and journalists’ equipment strewn on the floor and reported that the damage occurred in the presence of armed policemen who did not intervene.

At a news conference, Alenkhe of the Nigeria Union of Journalists condemned the violence and called on the APC to apologize, replace the damaged equipment, and compensate any injured journalists who had sought medical treatment.

Alenkhe told CPJ on March 11, that the APC had apologized and pledged to pay for damages by March 16. At the time of writing, Alenkhe told CPJ that the APC was yet to make the payment.

CPJ’s calls and texts to Nigerian army spokesperson Onyema Nwachukwu requesting comment on the attack on Fasan did not receive any response.

APC’s national spokesperson Felix C. Morka declined to comment and directed CPJ to the party’s Edo State chapter. CPJ’s calls and texts to APC’s Edo State spokesperson Peter Uwadia-Igbinigie did not receive any replies.

Edo State police spokesperson Chidi Nwabuzor declined to comment and referred CPJ to the police’s earlier statement, without providing further details.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.

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