Olalekan Fakoyejo, a journalist for TheCable, described how a soldier attacked him after they got into a fight over a traffic obstruction in Lagos State’s Ogba neighborhood.
Fakoyejo, the Assistant Business Editor at TheCable, stated in an interview with PUNCH Metro on Monday that he met the troops on Saturday while riding a tricycle from Ikeja to Ogba.
When the tricycle carrying him maneuvered around the Pleasant Event Center, off Ajao Road in Ikeja, he observed that the troops were controlling traffic.
He claimed that when another trike tried to maneuver through traffic, one of the soldiers stopped it and ordered the rider to dismount as a kind of punishment.
The military was attempting to discipline a tricycle driver who was using a separate lane, according to Fakoyejo’s narration. He requested that the tricycle’s driver get off and climb onto the roof. I told him that what he was doing was creating traffic. I was in a different trike in a different lane, not too far from the other tricycle.
After hearing what I had to say, the soldier pulled me from the trike. He began to intimidate me and told me to go see his coworkers who weren’t involved in the event. I told him I didn’t do anything illegal and that he didn’t have the authority to force me to go report myself to his coworkers, so I refused to go.One of his coworkers came to talk to me after he repeatedly pushed me backward toward where he claimed his colleagues were. The soldier who was threatening me punched me as soon as I turned to face him while I was explaining to the coworker who approached us.
According to a report by TheCable, an eyewitness captured the soldier continuously pushing the journalist while trying to strike him with a cudgel that was picked up from the ground.
According to the complaint, Fakoyejo’s phone struck the tarmac as the soldier shoved him, shattering the screen.
It was mentioned that the journalist was later asked to leave the area by onlookers in order to prevent more attacks.
According to the account, two soldiers confronted Fakoyejo as he was leaving and allegedly threatened to whip him while onlookers begged for peace.
As of the time this report was filed, Appolonia Anele, the Army spokesperson, had not responded to messages sent to her line, therefore attempts to gain a reaction from her were fruitless.
The Nigerian Army has been plagued by incidents of military members attacking civilians, which occasionally result in fatalities or serious injuries.
On August 27, PUNCH Metro reported that the Nigerian Army was subject to public criticism after Abdulsamad Jamiu, a National Youth Service Corps member, died in the Federal Capital Territory’s Dei-Dei neighborhood.
According to Odunola Olawuyi, the acting Assistant Director of Army Public Relations, the forces were fired upon by escaping suspects, resulting in a gunfight in which Jamiu was caught in the crossfire.
The victim’s family, however, rejected the Army’s explanation and called for justice and a public apology.
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