Thugs suspected to be loyal to Governor Ayo Fayose of Ekiti State on Wednesday beat up the state correspondent of The Punch newspapers for taking pictures of women praying for peace in the state.
The reporter, Kamarudeen Ogundele, who had been covering the protests over the alleged impeachment moves on the governor by the 19 All Progressive Congress, APC lawmakers, was beaten to stupor and had to be
rescued by policemen on duty in the area.
The two policemen were equally assaulted by the thugs.
The thugs, who had continued to lay siege to the House of Assembly Complex and all roads leading to the state, attacked Ogundele around noon on Bank Road, close to a roadblock mounted by the police near the
Assembly Complex.
The reporter’s clothes were shredded in the process and his working gadgets seized in the process.
He said his attempts to identify himself as a journalist infuriated the thugs the more, as they continued to kick and punch him. The thugs according to him were over 50 in number.
“I kept shouting ‘I’m a journalist’ but they did not show me mercy, as they pounced on me. They were like 50 persons kicking me all at the same time. They dragged me out of the car and continued hitting me. At
He said when the policemen saw that they were unable to rescue him the urged him to run for his life even as some of the thugs took pity on him and started quarreling with themselves.
“Luckily for me, a few among them felt they had beaten me enough and started fighting their colleagues to let me go. I capitalized on their disagreement and with the help of the police, I quickly escaped,” Ogundele said.
The governor was said to have later called one of the leaders of the Nigerian Union of Journalists in the state to apologize for the action of the thugs, saying that they did not carry out the action on behalf of his government.
He equally assured journalists of their safety in the state.