The Rivers State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Olugbenga Adepoju, has removed the divisional police officer in-charge of the area where journalists were assaulted by police officers while covering a peaceful protest.
The commissioner of police condemned the action of his men involved in the assault on the journalists, when he visited the secretariat of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) in Port Harcourt, on Friday evening.
He regretted the unprofessional behaviour of his men and apologized to the union, adding he received the news of the assault with shock, as he was in Abuja, attending the grand finale of the 2025 National Police Day.
Adepoju said when the news of the assault broke, he called the divisional police officer concerned to ascertain the cause of the matter that warranted such an action.
The commissioner said that since no evidence was produced to have warranted such an action, he ordered that the divisional police officer be relieved of his duties.
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“Journalists were the first group I hosted on resumption of duty, to show how dearly we treasure their importance. Since then, we have been working together. I am therefore here with my management team to apologise for what happened that day.
“Please, we are sorry and l promise it won’t repeat itself. As I’m talking to you, the divisional police officer in-charge of that area has been dropped because he failed to produce evidence that warranted such an action and officers identified in the video are currently facing punishment,” the police boss said.
Responding, the NUJ state Chairman, Paul Bazia said initially he wanted to ignore the rumour surrounding the assault on journalists, but when he saw the video, where journalists were running under serious teargas smoke, he couldn’t wish that away.
He reminded the police commissioner that journalists were there to perform their statutory duties, just like the police, so there was no reason for such treatment by his men.
“The journalists have the duty to cover the protest, the police have the duty to protect lives and property, just like the protesters also have the right to protest.
“We are pleased that the DPO has been removed. But we also want the officers who committed the offence to be identified and punished appropriately,” the NUJ chairman said.
