A journalist with TheCable, Olalekan Fakoyejo, has recounted how he was allegedly assaulted by a soldier during a traffic-related altercation in the Ogba area of Lagos.
Fakoyejo, who serves as Assistant Business Editor at TheCable, said the incident occurred on Saturday while he was travelling in a tricycle from Ikeja to Ogba. According to him, soldiers were managing traffic near a venue identified as Pleasant Event Centre, off Ajao Road, when a confrontation arose.
He explained that a soldier had stopped another tricycle rider and ordered him to climb onto the roof of his vehicle as punishment, an action he believed was worsening the traffic situation. Fakoyejo said he made a remark about the obstruction from his own tricycle, which drew the soldier’s attention.
The journalist alleged that the soldier approached him, dragged him out of the tricycle, and began threatening him. He said the officer attempted to force him to report to other soldiers nearby, an order he resisted on the grounds that he had done nothing wrong.
According to his account, the situation escalated when another soldier intervened, but while Fakoyejo was explaining himself, the initial officer slapped him. He added that the soldier continued to shove him and attempted to strike him with a stick picked from the ground.
A video cited by TheCable reportedly showed the officer pushing the journalist repeatedly during the confrontation. Fakoyejo also said his phone fell and got damaged in the process, while bystanders later urged him to leave the scene to avoid further harm.
He further alleged that as he tried to walk away, two soldiers confronted him again and threatened to flog him before passers-by intervened to calm the situation.
Efforts to get a response from the Nigerian Army spokesperson, Appolonia Anele, were unsuccessful as of the time of filing the report.
