By Our Reporter
Immigration officers in Oyo State have been accused of assaulting journalists.
Recently, reports emerged that a journalist, Seun Falomo, a cameraman with Galaxy Television was assaulted.
The incident reportedly occurred on Friday, a few minutes after the Oyo State Road Transport Management Agency, OYRTMA, official was arrested and detained for apprehending an immigration personnel who violated traffic rules.
Our sources claimed the immigration officers retaliated by arresting the OYRTMA official, stripping him naked, and locking him up at their Zone F headquarters on Old Ife Road in Ibadan.
But, in an attempt to cover up the incident, the officers then turned their aggression towards the journalists present to report the situation.
In the process, Falomo and others were assaulted and threatened to be killed.
Some of the immigration officers attempted to seize Falomo’s camera which was resisted.
Falomo was pushed to the ground and threatened at gunpoint. He was saved by some of his colleagues and other members of the public.
Our correspondent reports that the incident is coming a few days after some operatives of the Department of State Service (DSS) assaulted a journalist in the state.
Chairman, Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Oyo state council, Comrade Ademola Babalola, described the incident as worrisome.
Babalola in a short statement issued on Friday, appealed to journalists to be mindful of overzealous security operatives.
He said, “I just read this now. It is getting more dreary, especially coming exactly a week after one of us was battered by DSS.
“We are going to make our position known tomorrow morning. This is becoming worrisome for my colleagues. Let us be wary of these mad people, pls”.
However, all efforts made by newsmen to get a reaction from the Public Relations Officer of Nigeria Immigration Service, NIS, in Oyo State command, Olufemi Adetunji proved abortive.