Police brutalised reporter in Anambra over pictures

A correspondent with the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, Mr Peter Okolie was at the weekend manhandled by a police officer, Mmaduekponam Martins for taking pictures of a female officer, Mrs Obi Amaka who was involved in a fisticuffs with a bus driver at Aroma Junction, Awka.

Okolie who was at a nearby internet cafe filing his report for the day was attracted by the noise of some people when he rushed out to behold a female police officer, fighting a commercial bus driver for refusing to part with money after parking at the popular junction.

“I decided to take some shots with my camera, but before I knew it, this officer( Martins) rushed at me, grabbed my shirt and started raining blows on my face,” Okolie explained.

The incident which occured at the weekend left the NAN correspondent and the driver of UNIZIK shuttle with bruises and injuries on their faces, while the police officer insisted on arresting the journalist.

Narrating his ordeal in the hands of the police officer, Okolie said he had threatened to kill him if he refused to release his camera because he took photographs of his colleague while fighting with the shuttle driver .

The bus driver while narrating the cause of the fight to journalists said officer Obi Amaka whose staff number is 14118 invaded his vehicle in a bid to remove his ignition key over his refusal to ‘roger’ her.