Police officers harassed and assaulted reporters present at the Lekki Traffic Toll Gate, Lekki-Ikoyi link bridge, Lagos, on Friday morning.
The reporters were attacked when covering the reopening of the toll gate, which had been closed since October, 2020, and reporting heavy police and Rapid Response Squad (RRS) presence.
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“We wanted to speak to the MD of LCC but he refused and ordered police to attack us,” a cameraman attached to Channels TV told FIJ.
“They attacked Olu Philips, a Channels TV reporter, seized his eyeglasses and covered his camera lens. Now he is struggling to see.”
When FIJ attempted to contact the LCC via its official phone number, it did not respond to calls. A text message sent to it had not been responded to at press time.
The decision to reopen the toll gate almost two years after Lagos residents who protested against police brutality and activities of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) were shot and killed by soldiers at the same location was met with displeasure and backlash as over 7,000 people tweeted #NoJusticeNoToll, making it one of the top five trending topics on Twitter in Nigeria at press time.
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