Jide Oyekunle, a Nigerian reporter who is one of the journalists attacked during the first day of the nationwide protest in Abuja, has spoken up.
He accused the FCT Commissioner of Police, CP Benedict Igwe, of taking away his mobile phone.
Journalists covering the ongoing nationwide protests were reportedly attacked by the Police on Thursday in Abuja.
A viral video on social media captured the moment Jide Oyekunle was picked up by operatives of the FCT Police Command.
Condemning the development, the International Press Centre, IPC stated that some of the affected journalists were injured or arrested, and had their working tools damaged.
However, SP Josephine Adeh, the Public Relations Officer of the FCT Police Command, told DAILY POST that the report was false.
But speaking after his release in a now trending video, Oyekunle, who is the FCT Correspondents’ Chapel Chairman and a photojournalist with Daily Independent, stated that the CP ordered his arrest and collected his phone from him.
He said “The Commissioner of Police Benedict Igwe, right in my very presence, ordered my arrest and personally collected my phone from me and went away with it. As I’m speaking to you now he is still with my phone.”
Watch him speak;
He said the FCT Commissioner of Police,Benedict Igwe ordered his men to to do this to him,
— Chude Nnamdi (@chude__) August 2, 2024
He’s Jide Oyekunle, NUJ Abuja chairman, https://t.co/NnPzi2DFqR pic.twitter.com/EPHc8Tlgnk