THERE have been burgeoning incidents of flagrant abuses of power by men in uniform in recent times which involved the brutalisation of innocent citizens, including journalists in the line of duty. The relevant authorities will do well to take urgent steps to rein in the madness before it snowballs into crisis of unmanageable proportions, especially with the preponderance of journalists as victims of the undisciplined uniformed men. Indeed, the incidents, especially because of the impunity that has literally attended them, are already being seen in some quarters as a subtle attempt at suppressing the press by the state. The following incidents, in no particular order of occurrence, expose the infamy that is now becoming the pastime of some uniformed men in the country.
Just last week, operatives of the Department of State Service (DSS) reportedly brutalised a journalist at a fuel station in Ibadan. The journalist was beaten up allegedly for resisting the operatives’ attempt to jump the queue. All efforts by the victim and his colleagues to seek redress have yielded no result because the DSS has bluntly refused to identify the erring officials. Also, policemen attached to Ughelli A’ Division of the Delta State Police Command and some vigilance group, on Thursday, April 4, reportedly attacked and brutalised two journalists for no just cause. The newsmen said to be attached to the Office of the Chief Press Secretary (CPS) to the Delta State governor, Sheriff Oborevwori, were brutalised, dehumanised and molested by policemen attached to the Ughelli A’ Division of the Delta State Police Command. The journalists, namely Andrew Unutame of the Galaxy Television and Oghenekaro Awodeha of The Periscope newspaper, were beaten blue and black by the operatives of the Nigeria Police Force and men of the vigilante group at the premises of Ughelli A’ Division, in the presence, and at the instance, of one senior Police officer, Mr. Ugwu Chukwutem.
It would would appear that officers and men of Ugheli A’ Division have a penchant for being unprofessional. It will be recalled that a similar occurrence took place on November 28, 2022, when policemen from the same Division led by one Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), Edet, also brutalised two journalists attached to the Pointer newspaper and Galaxy Television under the nose of the Divisional Police Officer, while the victims were covering the visitation of the immediate past Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, to religious leaders at Oduaran Street in Ughelli, Delta State.
In yet another incident, FirstNews editor, Segun Olatunji, who regained his freedom after 14 days in military detention, recounted his ordeal in the hands of his abductors. Mr Olatunji was abducted from his Lagos home on March 15 by the military and taken to Abuja, where he was held incommunicado for days until his release.While in detention, several journalists’ unions and his media organisation relentlessly demanded his freedom. Also, Immigration officers in Oyo State have been accused of assaulting journalists. A journalist, Seun Falomo, a cameraman with Galaxy Television, was assaulted. The incident reportedly occurred shortly after officials of the Oyo State Road Transport Management Agency (OYRTMA) were arrested and detained for apprehending an immigration personnel who violated traffic rules. The ‘offence’ of the journalist was that he attempted to capture the show of shame on camera.
Cases of savagery on innocent citizens by men in uniform are literally endless. The foregoing cases are in the public domain perhaps because they happened to journalists who professionally have a duty to keep the public informed about the goings-on in the society. And that duty is perhaps why they have become vulnerable to attacks by unprofessional uniformed men who would not want their misdeeds reported. This dangerous proclivity for turning journalists into an endangered species cannot and should not be permitted to continue. We frown on these flagrant abuses of power. Journalists should not be brutalised for simply doing their jobs. If they break the law, there are prescribed legal steps to take to seek redress. The courts are there to determine culpability or otherwise of any alleged infractions of the law. It is not the place of men in uniform to accuse, ‘pronounce guilty’ and mete out punishment to “suspects.” Uniformed men armed and kitted with taxpayers’ money should not be allowed to turn themselves into lords of the manor in a civilised society. Abducting anyone and keeping them incommunicado for two weeks is draconian. Such depraved acts have no place in a democracy: the Army has a case to answer.
It is time the law enforcement agents did a bit introspection: they cannot keep complaining of bad public image when they continue to act in despicable ways. For instance, in the Delta State case, the police (wo)men boasted that even the Inspector General of Police (IGP) could not call them to order! Yes, such an unguarded statement may be the warped opinion of its authors but it is, in a sense, reflective of the abysmal level of discipline in the Nigerian Police Force. The growing incidents of attacks on journalists in the country is tantamount to impairment of press freedom. And suppression of the free press by agents of the state is anathema to democracy. Perhaps it is important to mention that one of the major dividends of democracy is the free press, not necessarily the much-touted social amenities like road, water, power infrastructure and so on. The truth is that these social amenities can also be, and indeed had also been, delivered to the Nigerian society, even better under dictatorships. Thus, aberrant tendencies within the system that have the potential to stifle critical attributes of a free society, like periodic elections and in particular freedom of speech, which are significant components of the real dividends of democracy, should be officially reined in. And while we encourage journalists not to be deterred by lawless uniformed men in the exercise of their onerous duty, we urge them to always act professionally and in consonance with the law at all times, leaving no loopholes for the bad eggs within the law enforcement agencies to exploit.
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