Journalist alleges brutal treatment by Soldiers in Lagos traffic confrontation

A journalist with TheCable, Olalekan Fakoyejo, has said he was allegedly assaulted by a soldier during a traffic incident in the Ogba area of Lagos State.

He explained that the incident happened on Saturday while he was in a tricycle from Ikeja to Ogba. He said soldiers were controlling traffic near Pleasant Event Centre, off Ajao Road.

According to him, the problem started when a soldier stopped another tricycle driver and forced him to get down and climb onto his vehicle as punishment. Fakoyejo said he commented that this action was causing more traffic, which the soldier overheard.

He said the soldier then pulled him out of the tricycle, threatened him, and ordered him to go and report himself to other soldiers nearby. Fakoyejo refused, saying he had done nothing wrong.

He added that the soldier kept pushing him until another soldier came to intervene. While he was explaining what happened, the first soldier allegedly slapped him.

An eyewitness video reportedly showed the soldier pushing the journalist and trying to hit him with a stick picked from the ground. Fakoyejo also said his phone fell during the incident and was damaged.

He said bystanders later helped calm the situation and advised him to leave to avoid further trouble. He also claimed that two other soldiers later threatened to flog him as he was leaving.

Efforts to get a response from the Nigerian Army spokesperson were not successful at the time of the report.