Edo Special Security Squad assaults journalist in Benin

Operatives of the Edo State Special Security Squad Against Cultism and Kidnapping have assaulted a journalist, identified as Hassan Olasunnkanmi Quadri, working with a private television station in Edo State.  Our correspondent gathered that the incident happened when members of the squad raided an undisclosed hotel where the victim lodged as well as some other […]

Operatives of the Edo State Special Security Squad Against Cultism and Kidnapping have assaulted a journalist, identified as Hassan Olasunnkanmi Quadri, working with a private television station in Edo State. 

Our correspondent gathered that the incident happened when members of the squad raided an undisclosed hotel where the victim lodged as well as some other areas, an exercise in which 20 suspected cultists were apprehended.

In a viral video posted on his Facebook page, Hassan Olasunnkanmi Quadri narrated how the team invaded his hotel room and assaulted him.

The victim who spoke in pidgin English in the viral video said, “As you all know, I no dey find trouble, I no dey find wahala. I do my work diligently. I no dey even put hand for anything bad.

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“But seriously, even if everything get as e be, that doesn’t mean that everybody in Edo State is a criminal. 

 “They came into my room and before I knew it, one just slapped me. Before I could raise my head, the other one teargassed my eyes and tore my clothes,” he said. 

He said if not for the intervention of the spokesperson to Governor Monday Okpebholo, Mr Fred Itua, it would have been worse for him.

Confirming the incident, in a phone-in program on a private broadcasting station in Benin City, spokesperson to the State Government, Fred Itua, said he was with the squad when the incident happened.

 Itua described the action of some of the members of the squad as unfortunate, saying he decided to follow the team on its operation because he had the fears that some of the members would not behave well.

He said “In the case of our colleague, when they got to the hotel, he was one of those they brought out. Immediately I saw him from a distance, I quickly ran to meet them.

“I almost went physical with members of the squad, telling them they cannot arrest him because I know him as a journalist. When they dragged him into the bus, I resisted it.

“When he came out of the bus, I apologised to him, saying it was a case of mistaken identity. I felt bad because they really assaulted and manhandled him,” he said.