Published 25th Nov, 2021

By Daniel Ojukwu

Pelu Awofeso, a veteran journalist, has narrated how he was assaulted by operatives of the Lagos Police Taskforce on Wednesday.

Awofeso said he was manhandled for attempting to film the officers while harassing a motorist around the Ikeja area of the state.

The officers had jumped from a minivan to stop a private vehicle owner, demanding his ignition key. This caused traffic gridlock on the road, forcing other drivers to park and demand an explanation.

Gathered crowd quizzing police as traffic gridlock builds. One officer can be sighted in the far right

“I was about to do a POS transaction when I saw the police taskforce had surrounded a man. They wanted to collect his key from him, but the man resisted,” Awofeso told FIJ.

“They got into the car; they wanted to force the key out of the ignition, but he did not allow them. Shortly after, another motorist pulled over to question the police as they were causing traffic gridlock.”

Awofeso, a former winner of the CNN African Journalist of the Year Award (Culture category), pulled out his phone to document the incident but he would be assaulted.

“So I stayed back like everyone, because people had begun to gather. As I was doing so, the heavily-armed men came after me, manhandled me and took my phone,” he said.

“While the other man was being harassed, people started to gather around me too, but when the police noticed the crowd, they began to say ‘motorist you can go.'”

However, the officers returned the journalist’s phone to him after threatening to lock him up if he continued to claim his right.

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