Protesters were on Thursday
teargassed at the force headquarters, Abuja, during a protest to demand the
release of Premium Times reporter, Samuel Ogundipe.
The journalist was on Tuesday
arrested for writing a story based on a letter written by Ibrahim Idris,
inspector-general of police (IGP), to Acting President Yemi Osinbajo.
Members of the OurMumuDonDo
Movement and other civil society organisation were among the protesters
teargassed by the police.
The protesters arrived the
headquarters of the force as early as 9am to protest the arrest and detention
of Ogundipe with the hashtag #FreeSamuelOgundipe.
However, police officers formed a
ring at the gate to prevent the protesters from gaining entry into the
building.
Subsequently, they sprayed
teargas at the protesters, causing a number of them to scurry for safety. Some
of the protesters who inhaled the teargas became unconscious.
Charles Oputa, better known as
Charly Boy, Deji Adeyanju, and Omoyele Sowore were among the activists at the
protest.
Jimoh Moshood, police spokesman,
said Ogundipe is not being persecuted, adding that the police have the right to
investigate any allegation.
“Even though we have the Freedom
of Information Act (FOI), the act itself is restricted to some classified
documents and that is what we are investigating, he said.
“The document in question does
not fall under the FOI act therefore we are not asking him about the source of
the information but the source of the document.”
The protesters have vowed to
continue demanding for the release of Ogundipe, insisting that they cannot be
intimidated by the police.
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