The International Press Centre (IPC), Lagos-Nigeria has not only frowned at, but also outrightly condemned police brutality against Eniola Daniel, a reporter with The Guardian Newspaper while performing his duty at Apapa-Oshodi, Lagos on Sunday, February 28, 2021.
A press statement issued on Monday by Program Officer/Safety Alert Desk Officer of the IPC, Melody Lawal, said that Police unwarranted brutality collated by the IPC Journalist Safety Alert Desk depicted the inhumane treatment of the Nigeria Police Force, who physically and mentally assaulted Eniola while covering the activities of a government Taskforce at Apapa-Oshodi expressway in the early hours of Sunday.
Mr. Lanre Arogundade, who sits as the Executive Director of the IPC lamented by saying: “This incessant action or excessive use of force against journalists and civilians is dangerous to our democracy and a major threat to press freedom. Such acts of brutality also violate the fundamental human rights of the journalist”.
IPC therefore, has not only called on the authorities at the Nigeria Police Force to immediately release Eniola Daniel, take adequate and swift measures to bring to book those who violated the journalist; and put in place machinery of compensation for this inhumane treatment, but also called on the Nigeria Police Force to step up the training of its officers to be more respectful and courteous while discharging their duties.
