Daniel Ojukwu, a journalist with the Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ), was allegedly assaulted by officers at the Lagos State Police Command on August 29, 2025. Ojukwu had gone to the Command to meet with the Complaints Response Unit (CRU) after obtaining details of police officers accused of extorting detainees.
According to the report, while attempting to engage the officers at the Squad 1 office, three policemen pounced on him, seized his phone, and forcefully browsed through its contents. When the journalist objected, one of the officers shoved him out of the office. A violent confrontation followed, during which a heavily built officer kneed him in the face, shattering his glasses. About six officers joined the attack, inflicting further injuries, ripping his wristwatch, and scratching his arm.
The officers dragged him into another office where one pulled out a machete and shouted, “I will cut off your neck now. You think here is child’s play?.” As he struggled to breathe after the assault, another officer mocked him, saying, “You will die here, and the autopsy will show asthma killed you, not police brutality.”
When the Public Relations Officer (PRO) at the Lagos State Police Command, Benjamin Hundeyin, arrived, the officers admitted dragging Ojukwu’s phone from him but said this was in response to Ojukwu illegally taking pictures on the premises. The journalists denied the allegation stating that the photos were sent to him.
Hundeyin responded that CCTV footage would be reviewed and he offered to replace Ojukwu’s eyeglasses frame, wristwatch strap and to pay damages. Ojukwu declined and insisted on filing an official complaint to him. The PRO told Ojukwu he was duty-bound to take the complaint, but was then called away by his superiors before the complaint could be lodged.
One of MFWA’s national partner in Nigeria, the International Press Centre (IPC), has condemned the attack as an egregious violation of press freedom and called for urgent disciplinary action against the officers, as well as compensation for Ojukwu. The MFWA joins in this condemnation and urges the Nigeria Police Force (specifically the Lagos State Police Command) to conduct an impartial investigation, sanction the perpetrators, and ensure accountability. The MFWA further calls on the police to guarantee the safety of all journalists and to respect their right to gather and report information without intimidation or reprisal.
