REPORTER’S DIARY: How this police officer’s men attacked me on protest ground

In the blink of an eye, I went from being a hunter of story to become the story.

Angry, Luka Fada, an assistant superintendent of police, led the team of officers that descended on me while covering the #EndBadGovernanceInNigeria protest at the Eagle Square in Abuja on 1 August.

I was filming the protesters who were chanting hunger slogans when Mr Fada signalled his colleagues to come with him.

While Mr Fada and some of his colleagues went for the protesters, a menacing officer in a bulletproof vest and helmet came for me. Three other officers would later join him — all pounced on me with a ferocity that left me reeling.

One of the officers that attacked me

One wrenched my right hand to seize my phone, and the three others hit me with their weapons, resulting in a head injury and an internal twist in my right shoulder.

These monsters intentionally came for me, fully aware that I am a journalist who has caught them on camera harassing protesters.

‘Who are you?’

My press jacket and identity card, once a shield for journalists, offered no protection at that moment, not even my explanations.

“Who are you?” They repeated these questions, perhaps expecting me to implicate myself.

At one point, I couldn’t answer the questions because I could barely speak above a whisper. The fumes from the fired tear gas canisters had made it into my lungs, thus pausing my breath.

I tried to scream, but the chaos around me drowned out my voice, and my colleagues were some meters away, covering the protest, unaware of what was happening.

My phone had been taken away at that time, and my eyeglasses were damaged.

After that, one of the officers thrust his hand between my legs, then lifted me up and violently threw me into a police van. Inside, I found four other people already lying helplessly.

We were asked to face down, but I was reluctant. I don’t want to be driven to an unknown place.

If I must be taken anywhere, I want to see the route.

This ordeal lasted more than 15 minutes and ended only after a photojournalist with PUNCH, Kayode Jaiyeola, intervened.

Unfortunately, I later learned that Mr Jaiyeola also dressed in a press jacket and helmet, was arrested that same day by officials suspected to be from the office of the National Security Adviser (NSA). Although he had been released, his gadgets were still with the officers.