Posted by Chinenye on Tue 05th May, 2026 - tori.ng
A journalist, Olalekan Fakoyejo of TheCable, has alleged that he was assaulted by a soldier during a heated traffic confrontation in the Ogba area of Lagos.
(Journalist with TheCable, Olalekan Fakoyejo during his encounter with the soldiers. Photo by: Punch news)
Olalekan Fakoyejo, a writer for TheCable, has 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 had met the military on Saturday while riding a tricycle from Ikeja to Ogba.
When the tricycle carrying him maneuvered around the Pleasant Event Centre, off Ajao Road in Ikeja, he observed that the soldiers 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 soldier was attempting to punish a tricycle driver on a different lane," Fakoyejo recounted. He requested that the tricycle's driver get off and climb on the roof. I responded, "This is causing traffic," because of what he was doing. I was in a different trike in a different lane, not far from the other tricycle.
"After hearing what I had to say, the soldier pulled me from the trike. He began threatening me and told me to go meet his coworkers who weren't involved in the event. I told him that I had done nothing illegal and that he had no authority to compel me to go report myself to his coworkers, so I refused to go.
"During that time, he repeatedly pushed me back in the direction of where he claimed his coworkers were, and then one of them approached me to talk." 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 also mentioned that passers-by later urged the journalist to leave the scene to avoid further assault.
The report also stated that as Fakoyejo walked away, two soldiers accosted him and allegedly threatened to whip him while bystanders pleaded for calm.
As of the time this report was filed, Appolonia Anele, the Army spokesman, had not responded to messages sent to her line, thus attempts to contact her were unsuccessful.
The Nigerian Army has been plagued by incidents of soldiers attacking civilians, occasionally leading to fatalities or serious injuries.
On August 27, PUNCH Metro reported that the Nigerian Army was the target of popular criticism after Abdulsamad Jamiu, a National Youth Service Corps member, was killed 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.