Soldiers beat Daily Trust photographer in Maiduguri

Category: News Published on Friday, 08 February 2013 05:00 Written by Yahaya Ibrahim, Maiduguri

A Daily Trust photographer, Olatunji Omirin, who attempted to snap protesting women in Maiduguri yesterday, was manhandled by angry soldiers who slapped him and took away his camera.

Our correspondent reports that it took the intervention of Mallam Abba Kakami, Chairman of Borno council of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) for Omirin to get back his camera.

Reliving his ordeal in the hands of the soldiers, Tunji said, “The whole trouble started at the Ramat Square where some women came to meet some military officers but the issue could not be resolved.

“Then some women started protesting against the alleged arrest of their sons and husbands by the Joint Task Force (JTF) and vowed to go and lodge complaints to Governor Kashim Shettima at the government house.

“As the women approached the state television house (BRTV), three soldiers came forth from the nearby sector command of the JTF and started shooting into the air to scare away the protesters.

“I therefore ran to capture their pictures when one of the soldiers demanded for my camera which I refused to give. The other one slapped me and the third one snatched my camera,” Omirin said.