A commercial motorcyclist poparly known as Okada rider Sunday Adekunle, 25, has brutalised Sunday Braimoh, a worker in the Press department of The Nation.
The incident occurred near The Nation office on Fatai Atere Way, Matori, Mushin, Lagos last Thursday.
Braimoh was injured on his left eye.
The victim was attacked in front of a plastic manufacturing firm by Adekunle and four other men. They beat, dragged him on the ground and left him with a bruised face.
The case was reported to Area D Police Command, Mushin, following which operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) attached to the command arrested Adekunle.
Braimoh has since been taken to Mushin General Hospital for treatment.
Surprisngly, Adekunle’s colleagues bemoaned the attack, appealing to the police to jail him.
One of them said the assault on Braimoh was unjust and barbaric.
“The man (Braimoh) is not at fault. He was walking down the pathway where Adekunle and others sat, blocking the way. Braimoh told them to excuse him but they did not respond. Before we knew what was happening, they had all started beating him,” he said.
But Adekunle, who lives in Ikotun, denied the allegation. He said he knew nothing about the matter.
“I am an Okada rider. I was actually chased to the Okada park and beaten up by four guys who were upset with me for refusing to give them a free ride. It was in the process that they also punched Braimoh and beat him.”
Braimoh, however, countered Adekunle’s explanation, insisting that Adekunle was one of those who assaulted him.
“He is lying. He is one of the boys who brutalised me. They were standing on the walkway at the entrance of the plastic manufacturing company when I was passing by. They punched me when I asked them to leave the way, so I can have an easy passage. They beat me and dragged me on the ground, a development, which left me with a deep cut and bruises on my face. I lost a lot of blood,” he added.
Tag: The Nation man
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Okada rider brutalises The Nation man
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Judge orders detention of The Nation man, six others
•Three hours ordeal ends in lecture
Seven journalists were yesterday detained at the Ota High Court in Ogun State on the order of a judge.
The detainees are Daud Olatunji (Vanguard), Samuel Awoyinfa (The Punch), Ernest Nwokolo (The Nation), Abiodun Taiwo (Daily Times), Sulaiman Fasasi (National Pilot), Wale Adelaja (TVC) and Johnson Akinpelu (Alaroye).
The seven were in the court by 11:44am for two matters- cases involving victims of Pakoto demolition and killing in Oke – Ore community- which were believed to have been listed for hearing yesterday.
The reporters, who arrived in two vehicles, pulled up quietly opposite Court 1 where other visitors had parked.
They had hardly disembarked when a police orderly, who identified himself as Adeyemi Oluwaseun, accosted them.
Upon learning their identification, the police officer returned to his duty post.
But a minute later, the Assistant Court Registrar (ACR) inquired in a haughty tone about the reporters’ mission.
She demanded a letter of authority from the chief judge or a senior judiciary officer permitting them to enter the court.
Dissatisfied with the reporters’ explanations, she went to the judge while the court was in session. When she returned, she said the judge had ordered their arrest after she misinformed him that they were filming the court premises.
From 11:45am to 2:44am, the reporters were detained inside the administrative wing of the court. One of them almost fainted, following the psychological and humiliating experience.
But a snake that emerged from the bushy court premises and which bit one of the male judiciary officials forced the judge to send the journalists away after reprimanding them.
The name of the judge could not be immediately ascertained but the birthday cards sighted in his office were addressed to N. I. Agbelu.
Three workers rushed the victim to the State Hospital Ota for treatment; others stayed behind to hunt for the snake, which slipped into one of the crevices on the staircase leading to the entrance of the ACR’s office.
Before releasing the journalists at 2:44pm, the judge spent 25 minutes lecturing them, saying the court is not a public place.
He said: “I put you under arrest. You are under arrest. You will discover that this compound is fenced round, is that not so?
“If you are representing public interest, you must know we have a head in this court. I am a judge and I have unlimited jurisdiction in the state.
“I can even say somebody should be arrested without question, but in exercising my power, I have to inquire into many things.
“You cannot say because you are representing public interest, you will burst into any compound or burst into my house. You have a right as a journalist, but, where yours stops mine starts.
“And if I am the owner of a house, I have a right to my privacy. What I am saying is that judiciary has its own right too. You are infringing on our own right too. You don’t know?
“A report came to me that some people invaded the court, claiming that they are journalists.
“It is not a local market and it is not an open market; you are approaching the court. If you are interested in a particular matter in a company, will you just burst into the company, saying you are journalists?
“That is what I am telling you. You don’t just go into a place and start filming and then say you are a journalist.
“I am telling you it is not a public place. I am telling you, the court is not a public place.”
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Robbers attack The Nation man in Asaba
Robbers yesterday stormed the home of Mr. Okungbowa Aiwerie, The Nation Correspondent in Asaba, the Delta State capital.
They stole musical equipment, a laptop, jewellery and cash.
The incident, which occurred at 2.30am, was the third on the journalist.
Okungbowa said the robbers scaled the fence into his compound.
The reporter said he heard a loud bang on his door as the hoodlums forced their way into his rented apartment.
He said: “At 2.30am, I heard a loud noise. Before I could wake up, I was accosted by the gunmen. My wife, two sons, my son’s friend and my daughter were asked to face down. I was beaten up with the butt of their guns and asked to bring out the money in my possession. I quickly complied.
“They ransacked the house, taking any valuable, including my wife’s jewellery, money, laptop and musical sets. The operation lasted about an hour.”
Okungbowa said he refused to report the matter to the police because nothing came out of a previous attack on him on December 30, last year, despite lodging complaints with the police.
The journalist said he was most pained by the loss of his laptop because it was the “only work tool I relied on for sending my reports.”
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Bello appoints The Nation man as SSA
•Jide Orintunsin Niger State governor Abubakar Bello has appointed Mr. Jide Orintunsin of The Nation newspapers as his Senior Special Assistant, Media and Publicity.
The appointment, which takes immediate effect, was contained in a letter by the Secretary to the State Government, Alhaji Shehu Danyaya.
A graduate of Ogun State Polytechnic, Abeokuta Ogun State and Federal University of Technology Minna, the new appointee is the current Niger State Correspondent of The Nation newspapers.
The new SSA started his journalism career with Ogun State Broadcasting Corporation (OGBC) before joining the defunct Concord Press of Nigeria as a reporter.
He rose to the rank of Senior Assistant News Editor at Concord Newspapers.
Orintunsin also worked with This Day newspaper and had a brief stint with The Guardian newspaper before joining The Nation.
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Kidnapped The Nation man relives ordeal at thanksgiving
After those five horrible days in captivity, Mr Ugochukwu Ugorji-Eke, The Nation’s Umuahia correspondent, was happy to be alive and back to his family. The Ugorji-Ekes and relatives were at the Methodist Church of Nigeria, Aba, Abia State, to give thanks.
The joy of life and freedom contrasted with the agony of flashback. The freed man and his family were dressed to capture the happy moment, Ugorji-Eke in his jacket, his wife Patience in her sky-blue traditional gear while their children were not outdone in the sartorial department by their parents. When the memories came flushing back, it was quite a different picture.
Those five days of his kidnap took away the usual smiles from the Ugorji-Eke home. The bungalow was converted into a prayer and fasting centre.
Mrs. Ugorji-Eke, her siblings, family members, close friends and even Chi-Chi and her little brother, Chimdi lost sleep as they were seeking God’s face for the safe and immediate release their father, husband, brother, friend and breadwinner who was abruptly snatched away from them by yet to be identified gunmen.
Journalists practicing in Abia were shaken to the marrow by the news that one of their colleagues had been whisked away to an unknown destination by unidentified gunmen. It was November 16.
How these guys could have outsmarted security checkpoints along the Opobo Road beat everybody’s imagination.
It was N20million ransom at the initial contact with the family, the kidnappers choosing to speak only with the wife, warning her not to involve security agencies or risk losing her husband. Ugorji-Eke was blindfolded for as long as his abductors held him. He said he would not wish even his enemies what he went through.
On November 19 he emerged from the kidnappers’ lair after his family paid the ransom.
The thanksgiving, which coincided with his son’s birthday, was witnessed by close friends and associates.
Speaking at the end of the event, Mr. Ugorji-Eke said, “I came here with my family to thank God for His mercies. For making me to be alive in the land of the living after spending five nights and five days in kidnappers’ den in late November this year. So, I said that since God has kept me alive that I have to thank Him.
“What happened is already in the past in my life. They are gone and I don’t want to remember them. The important thing is being thankful to God and hoping for brighter days ahead. I want to thank those who stood by my family all through the harrowing process; my establishment (Vintage Press), colleagues and others too numerous to mention. Their prayers and text messages were inspiring and I can say that God should repay them accordingly and as we end this to enter into another year, all they couldn’t achieve this year, they will achieve them next year.
“I have a wonderful wife who stood strong throughout my absence. People were calling to encourage her and the encouragement that comes from God she was able to stay focused throughout the period. I pray that God will bless her more for me. She was a pillar of support to my children and my family members.
“We initially wanted to make it an elaborate thing but later decided to celebrate it in a low key with children of God to show God that we appreciate Him for what He has done for us. That was why we did it here”.
His wife Patience Nnnena Ugochukwu Ugorji-Eke in a separate interview, said, “I am very elated, so happy and full of praise to God. I did make a vow to God and told him that I will give him thanks and come in his presence to give Him thanks and that is what I just did today.
“It was a divine co-incidence. It wasn’t planned but God made it to be so and we are happy about that my son’s birthday also coincided with his father’s thanksgiving. It was horrific, terrific and bitter experience that is the way I will describe it. We were praying, my colleagues were praying, his colleagues were also praying, our pastor friends across the states were praying. My house was in fact turned into a praying house where we all prayed and fasted till he came back.
“It has made me to be closer to God and to be stronger in the things of God because if man and woman cannot help what else is better than to hold onto Go?
“It has made me to give all and trust all and then embrace God. It has made me to be much stronger in the Lord than before and to the kidnappers, I would ask them to repent and change and turn a new leaf”.
Said Mrs. Ebere Alaezi Offia, sister-in-law to Ugochukwu who came all the way from Lagos to witness the thanksgiving “to say that I was devastated is an understatement. It was really bad. The news was shocking it was painful because my mind was just going up and down thinking what he could do that would warrant his kidnap.
“I have come to know him over the years as a quiet person who doesn’t look for someone’s trouble. It was painful but I thank God for today, because it is now a different story. I was in Lagos with my family where we reside.
“At the time of his [kidnap], as a child of God, I was taught what to do when the unexpected happened and that was exactly what I did. Initially, I cried, then I remembered that worrying or crying was not going to bring him back, that while we hoped for God to do something, we also had a role to play and our own role was to pray. We were doing the underground work. I couldn’t reach him physically wherever he was but I know that I could reach him through prayers and one of my prayer points was that God should sustain him. I didn’t know where he was, what he going through but I just prayed that knew the best way that He could keep him until physical help could come his way. The news about his release was expected because as we were praying, we were hoping that he would be released and so, when the news came, we were all excited and there was joy all over. If this thanksgiving were to be in the UK, I would have made it because he is worth it. I give God all the praise for all He has done and I know that such a thing will never occur again.
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The Nation man wins global environmental award
The Nation Senior Correspondent on the Investigation Desk, Mr Seun Akioye, is among six winners in the WASH Media Awards.
The awards are organised by the Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC) and Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI).
The organisers, in a statement yesterday, said they received over 100 entries from over 30 countries.
It described Akioye’s winning entry, titled: Lagosians Shun Public Toilets as Open Defecation Continues, as “extremely well researched and thought provoking”.
The statement reads: “On behalf of Mark Tran, Jury Chair for the 2014 WASH Media Awards, I wish to inform you that your entry, titled: Lagosians Shun Public Toilets as Open Defecation Continues, has been selected under the theme: Ending Open Defecation! Your entry was extremely well researched and thought-provoking. For the 2014 awards, over 100 entries from over 30 countries were received.
“As a winner, we invite you to attend the upcoming Stockholm World Water Week conference on 31 August to 05 September, 2014. As guests of the Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC) and Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI), all your costs, including flights, will be covered. During the closing ceremony of the Water Week conference, we will formally recognise all winners from our six themes on stage, presenting you with a diploma and cash award. Further details will be shared with you shortly.
“Once again, congratulations on winning the Ending Open Defecation category for this year’s WASH Media Awards…”
