A journalist with TheCable, Olalekan Fakoyejo, says he was assaulted by a soldier on Saturday in Ogba, Lagos, after a disagreement over traffic control measures.
Fakoyejo, Assistant Business Editor at TheCable said the incident happened near Pleasant Event Centre, off Ajao Road, Ikeja, while he was in a tricycle traveling from Ikeja to Ogba. Soldiers were directing traffic in the area at the time.
According to Fakoyejo, a soldier stopped another tricycle rider on a separate lane and ordered him to get out and climb onto the vehicle’s roof as punishment. Fakoyejo said the action worsened congestion, and he commented that it was “causing traffic.”
He said the soldier overheard him, pulled him from the tricycle he was in, and began threatening him. The soldier allegedly ordered him to report to other colleagues stationed farther away. Fakoyejo said he refused, stating he had done nothing wrong and the soldier had no right to issue that order.
While the soldier was pushing him backward toward his colleagues, another soldier approached. As Fakoyejo explained what happened, the first soldier allegedly slapped him.
A report by TheCable noted that eyewitness video showed the soldier repeatedly pushing the journalist and attempting to hit him with a cudgel picked from the ground. Fakoyejo’s phone fell during the altercation, damaging the screen.
Bystanders intervened and urged him to leave to avoid further harm. As he was leaving, two other soldiers allegedly approached and threatened to flog him before onlookers appealed for calm.
Efforts to reach Nigerian Army spokesperson Appolonia Anele for comment were unsuccessful as of press time.
The Nigerian Union of Journalists is yet to issue a formal statement on the incident.
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