On Monday, a disturbing incident unfolded in Port Harcourt when five journalists, covering the #Take-it-Back protest, were violently assaulted by operatives of the Rivers State Police Command. The protest, held in response to the recent unconstitutional decisions of the Federal Government, particularly the suspension of Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara and other officials, quickly turned into chaos as police forces used teargas to disperse demonstrators.
Among the media personnel assaulted were Charles Opurum of Channels Television, Ikeziam Godswill of AIT, Allwell Ene of Classic FM, and Soibi Oruwari of Nigeria Info. As police arrived at the scene, they escalated tensions, attacking the journalists and damaging their equipment. Godswill, a cameraman, recounted being forced to delete all his footage from the protest at gunpoint, with the officers removing his camera battery and smashing it afterward.
Opurum, who was arrested and later released, shared his experience of being detained after police questioned why he hadn’t left the scene. Despite showing his credentials and identifying himself as a journalist, Opurum was still taken into custody before a fellow officer intervened.
The assault on the journalists has sparked outrage from the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), which condemned the police’s actions as barbaric and a violation of human rights. In a statement, the Rivers State Council of NUJ called for an apology from the police within 14 days, warning that failure to do so would result in a boycott of their activities by local journalists.
The NUJ also demanded accountability for those responsible for the attack, asserting that such violence against journalists will not be tolerated and that any future assaults will be met with firm resistance.
