Mr. Yinka Adeniran, the Nation newspaper’s reporter attached to the Oyo State Governor’s Office, was on May 25, 2022 beaten up by policemen attached to the Oyo State Command of the Nigeria Police while one of them sprayed teargas directly into his eyes, nose and mouth.
The police officer wearing a name tag identifying him as “I. O Niyi”, who teargassed Mr. Adeniran, was one of those supposedly providing security at the governorship primary election of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), which took place at the Tennis Courts Pavillion of the Lekan Salami Sports Complex in Ibadan, Oyo State
Reporters, who were at the venue of the event to cover the primaries, were first asked to identify themselves but were later prevented from entering the venue supposedly on the ground that there were to many journalists at the venue.
Party delegates who were also prevented from entering the venue forced their way in, which gave Mr. Adeniran the opportunity to enter, but a visibly enraged Officer Niyi pounced on him, ordering other officers to “throw” him out.
On the orders of Officer Niyi, about five other policemen who were all armed with rifles attacked the reporter, rough-handling him and tearing his shirt.
Not satisfied with the punishment already meted out to the journalist, Officer Niyi went back to collect a tear gas cannister from one of his colleagues and sprayed it directly into the eyes, nose and mouth of the reporter after he had been thrown out of the venue.
The intervention of other journalists, including the Chairman of the Oyo State Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Mr. Demola Babalola; the Chairman of Oyo State Correspondents Chapel of the NUJ, Mr. Oluseye Ojo, the leadership and members of the Press Crew at the Governor’s Office prevented the policemen from inflicting further brutality on the journalist.
