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News Central has condemned the assault on its crew by operatives of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in Abuja. The incident occurred near the Ministry of Finance junction, where the journalists were covering the #FreeNnamdiKanu protest.
In a video, the officers were seen harassing the crew’s bus driver and a correspondent, Afolabi Moses. News Central described the attack as a blatant violation of press freedom and called for a thorough investigation to ensure justice is served.
Meanwhile, in an interview with News Central, the Nigeria Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), CSP Benjamin Hundeyin, said the authorities were not aware of any deliberate attack on journalists.
“I know for a fact that a few people were arrested this morning and when it turned out that one of them was a journalist, that journalist was released immediately,” he said.
“So journalists and the press have nothing to fear. The police has no intention of attacking the press.”
When shown the video of the incident, Hundeyin, surprised, promised an investigation.
“Well, I’m seeing this just now for the first time,” he stated. “But I can say that we have no reason to suppress the press. And this will be investigated.”
He emphasised the importance of collaboration between journalists and security agencies, noting that both serve the public interest.
“For journalists, for the press, they are partners with the police,” he said. “When we have cases like this, and there are barricades, even if journalists are coming to cover things, they would need also… to respect these barricades and zoom in and take their videos from afar.”
Despite his appeal for cooperation, Hundeyin reaffirmed that the video evidence would be “looked into” to determine what transpired.
