The Police in Lagos, curiously, are yet to arrest the staff of TOS Funerals that assaulted LEADERSHIP photojournalist, Benedict Uwalaka.? This is even as the? council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) in the? State? has concluded plans to organise a? mass protest in Ikeja this week to condemn frequent harassment and brutalisation of journalists in the course of their duty.
Sadly, the Ikeja division of the police is taking an easy way out in the reprehensible act by asking the management to produce the two culprits that brutalised the photojournalist instead of going to the company to effect arrests.
In a strange disposition of helplessness, Police sources revealed to LEADERSHIP that the management of TOS Funerals might have refused to produce the culprits, Debayo Ogunsola and Olumide.
Perhaps, as part of a ring of suspected complicity, efforts to get an update on the development from Lagos Police Public Relations Officer, Ngozi Braide, has? proved abortive as at the time of filing this report.
In the same vein, the commissioner of Police, Umar Manko has also formally received the petition against the Attorney-General of Lagos State, LASUTH and management and staff of Lekan Ogunsola Memorial Mortuary for threat to life, battery, stealing and assault. Meanwhile, the Lagos State Government, in its independent investigation, has requested that the security officials attached to the morgue should also report to Alausa for interrogation for the assault last Thursday.
Our correspondent gathered that this was part of the? state government’s desire to allow justice to prevail on the matter even as the Chief Security Officer to the Governor, Adeshina Lawal and Senior Special Assistant on media, Hakeem Bello met with Benedict Uwalaka and Kola Olasupo of This Day newspaper whose camnera was also damaged.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) has planned a mass protest over the attack on Uwalaka, and said it was prepared to drag the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) as well as the managers of TOS Funeral services to court over last Thursday’s assault on? the photo journalist.