HOW STUDENTS, JOURNALISTS AND ACTIVISTS WERE BEATEN AND ALMOST KILLED BY BUKOLA SARAKI THUGS WITH THE HELP OF THE NIGERIAN POLICE

AJOSE Gideon

Part of the most fundamental human right is the freedom of expression, this is further entrenched in the fact that in other to have a serious democracy, the press must have it’s freedom, this was the luxury we lived in, this was the comfort we reveled in, this was the hope we longed for, this was the assurance our law gave us.

However a certain element parading himself as the Senate President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in person of Bukola Saraki who was said to have fraudulently obtained a ruling in favour of his selfish person to the tune of #4bn in a libel suit against Sahara Reporters was rumoured to have mobilized thugs for the hearing of the appeal.

All these were like films in our eyes as we went there in good faith to make our grievances known, to have a peaceful court proceeding and to obtain a judgement that is favourable to all and sundry inview of the coming generations, to our or I would say my utmost dismay we got to the Court in Ilorin, after which the leader of ANSA; Comrade Juwon was addressing students and activists outside the court, the thugs quickly descended on the students who were just standing and observing!!!

Students ran away and actually came back, seeing that two females from the students camp had already been stripped naked, the students came back to deliver their own and there came mighty thugs with stones and sticks, some of them even carried Iron as some were seen removing guns from their Bags. After two women were seriously molested and beaten, their phones were stolen and all their jewelries were also stolen, the inhabitants of the area however rumoured that those thugs were given #50,000 each. Then the Police Force came and the women reported, but they did nothing other than watch, then when Saraki’s thugs started chasing students again, the police also joined them in chasing the students and started handpicking the already oppressed Students. As if this was not enough, the thugs backed up fully by the Nigerian Police Broke the glasses of all the Buses that students came with to the court and it was only a narrow escape that didn’t allow the thugs to burst the tyres.

Things further degenerated when a person parading himself as the NANS executive of zoneD came to the scene and started showing the Nigerian Police who to handpick into the Van, it was during this process that the like of *Comrade Juwon, Comrade Yahya from TASUED, Comrade Ak-Wisdom from OAU, Comrade Sankara from Uniben* were picked by the police, and later released after serious intervention.

Students, Journalist and Activists were beaten black and blue at the court, in front of the police, and at some point the Police from Division A’ kwara State started aiding the thugs in selecting who next was on the attack list. Cameras of journalist were seized and some of them were beaten, AIT, CHANNELS and some reputable media outlets were there but they denied covering the story because of intimidation.

#Credit
https://www.gbeduhub.com/