Sodiq Adelakun,a photojournalist with The PUNCH, was on Friday brutalised by hoodlums as policemen and operatives of the Department of State Services at the scene refused to help him.
The incident occurred when the Joe Ajaero-led faction of the Nigeria Labour Congress allegedly disrupted the 59th Annual General Meeting of the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association at the Alausa area of Lagos.
The protesters-cum-hoodlums picketed the leadership of the NECA over alleged anti-labour activities.
According to eyewitnesses, the members of the labour faction stormed NECA’s yearly meeting, carrying placards and singing solidarity songs.
They said the NECA Director General, Mr. Olusegun Oshinowo, should stop victimising workers by supporting massive sacking in the private sector.
However, the situation grew worse when some of the protesters sped to the scene in two yellow buses, beating the journalists in attendance and disrupting the event.
According to Adelakun who was a victim of the attacks,
“As I got to the scene of the protest, around 12pm, I was just doing my work. I was taking pictures and conducting interviews. All of a sudden, some men inside two yellow buses approached in full speed. Once they appeared, people started running helter-skelter. They were shouting, ‘Collect their cameras, injure them, kill them, beat them.’ All of us journalists started running.
“Where I was, there was a trailer blocking me, so I ran under it. One of them dragged me out and gave me a big blow. I fell. I hit my head on an iron. As I tried to stand up again, he gave me an uppercut. Another came from behind me and used a broken bottle to stab me in the back. My back hurt. He tried to stab me in the stomach, but I used my bag to defend myself and I was lucky. Only my bag tore. Another one came with a gun and threatened me that if I raised the camera, he would shoot me down. That was when I dropped the camera. As I dropped it, another hoodlum came and started ransacking my pocket. He took my phones, my camera and wallet. Then I fell into a gutter. As they were turning to leave me, after taking all my belongings, one came again for me and gave me a big blow in the eye. I fell again into the gutter and blood started flowing from my eye.
“When they finally left me, I tried entering into the security gate of a school beside the NECA building. The security operative there was about opening the gate for me when the hoodlums told him that if he did so, they would shoot both of us, so the man shut the gate. Meanwhile, there was a DSS officer in front of the building and I was begging him to help me; I said I was a journalist, but he just looked away.”
Adelakun added that the hoodlums took control of the area for about 10 minutes, injuring many and smashing vehicles in sight.
“The hoodlums controlled the area for over 10 minutes. They were smashing some buses and motorists started reversing. I could not see again and waited for five minutes until a colleague came to help me. They also injured some TVC and Channels TV journalists. They destroyed many properties,” he said.
In a reply to a text message to the NLC factional leader, Ajaero, for his reaction, he simply said, “Your reporter and photojournalist were present. Publish whatever report they brought.”
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