Police Shoot Journalist Covering Protest Against Extrajudicial Killing
Police officers allegedly shot at protesters and a bullet hit the journalist covering the protest in Osogbo, Osun State capital, Southwest Nigeria.
A journalist with The Nation newspaper in Osun State, Southwest Nigeria, has been shot by police officers while covering a protest against extrajudicial killings in Osogbo, the state capital.
Toba Adedeji was said to have joined some youth who gathered under Olaiya flyover Osogbo to protest the alleged killing of their colleague, Afolabi Abiola, by police officers.
Some police officers allegedly killed Abiola while on the trail of internet fraudsters in the state on Monday, April 11, 2022.
Yemisi Opalola, the Police spokesperson in Osun State, said in a statement that Olawale Olokode, Commissioner of Police in Osun, has directed the investigation to unravel the circumstances leading to the killing of Abiola.
The deceased, HumAngle learnt, was buried earlier on Tuesday, May 31, following which some youths mounted a protest, demanding justice.
An eyewitness told our reporter that some police officers stormed the scene about 30 minutes after the protest started and shot into the crowd and journalists covering the protest.
It was not immediately clear the extent of the gunshot wounds the journalist sustained.
HumAngle learnt that Toba was taken to the Ladoke Akintola University Teaching Hospital in Osogbo, where he received treatment.
The police spokesperson, Opalola, did not respond to calls and text messages by our reporter inquiring about the incident at the time of filing this report.
Extrajudicial killings by the police sparked outrage in 2020 and led to a nationwide protest tagged #ENDSARS protest.
Nigerian youths, during the protest, demanded the disbandment of the then notorious Special Anti-robbery Squad of the Nigeria Police, accused of extrajudicial killings and other forms of human rights violations.
The Nigerian government has acknowledged these problems and promised to address them in the past, but to date, abuses have continued with no real accountability.
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