On February 23, 2024, soldiers from the Nigerian Army 3 Battalion in Effurun, Uvwie Local Government Area of Delta State, arrested, brutalized and handcuffed the South-South Bureau Chief of Galaxy Television, Mr. Dele Fasan, at the DSC Roundabout in Effurun for video recording an aborted labour protest in the metropolis. They also hit him with the butt of their guns.
According to an eyewitness, Mr. Fasan was picked up by the soldiers in the presence of the police team led by a Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Operations, Aina Adesola.
He was later released by the soldiers following the intervention of the police boss and his colleagues who appealed to the Army Commander, Major A.E Ohegbe, on whose order he was released and the handcuff pulled off.
Confirming his arrest in a chat with newsmen shortly after he was released, Mr. Fasan said he was trying to shoot video clips of the protest scene which was already taken over by security operatives when the overzealous soldiers accosted him.
He commended the DCP Aina Adesola for promptly intervening in the matter.
“The military were not civil at all during the protest. But the police led by DCP Aina Adesola, the Navy, the Department of State Services (DSS), and Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) operatives were civil as they all intervened and I was released”.
He added that the Army Commander, Major Ahegbe, later apologised to him after the ugly act had already been done.
