A naval officer from the detacthment of security operatives tagged ‘Operation Skolombo’ attached to Mr. Jude Ngaji, Cross River State Security Adviser, yesterday in Calabar manhandled South South Chairman of Association of Online Media Practitioners of Nigeria (AMPON), Mr. Obaji Akpet.
Akpet also doubles as Daily Champion Cross River correspondent and publishes CrossRiverEyes.com
The security operatives comprising of two police men plus a driver, two naval officers without name tags and two men on muffty had about 3pm stormed Audacity ICT, an information and technology resource centre, where customers were surfing their individual businesses on the internet.
Without any sense of politeness befitting the fact they were dealing with a civil society, the security operatives kept shouting on top of their voices ordering everyone to stand up while they began to confiscate computer systems in the business centre and pushing Gloria, a service attendant in the cafe of about 18 years of age.
No explanation was offered to anyone as to what was happening and no arrest warrant was shown; everyone was kept in total dark and trembling of the situation. Daily Champion correspondent was not allowed to move as he was also ordered to stay put.
Shortly, Mr. David Jay, the CEO of the ICT resource centre stepped out of his office perplexed of what was going on, enquired “Gloria, what did you do that police are everywhere?”
Just when David introduced himself as the owner of the resource centre explaining to them that everyother person was a customer, they pushed him forward and yelled at him to disconnect his server, then dragged him and his girl into a waiting van while ignoring his appeal to let him at least notify his wife currently nusrsing his one year old child.
No other computer system was carried along in the resource centre, safe for the main internet server while unduly shutting out clients from their surfing without explanation offered.
Confused about the whole scenerio, Daily Champion correspondent stepped out to fully identify the van that the duo were being taken into in order to be clear if the men were truly security operatives, a tall naval officer bordering about 5.9ft, part of the operation on sighting him howl “shebi you want come see, where we want take am go, oya follow us come see;” and then held him on his waist belt and forced him into the van. Off their siren started blaring as they drove the trio to a yet to be identified destination.
In 30minutes later, the van came to a halt in front of the State Security Adviser’s office with him standing in the entrance apparently waiting to receive the proceeds his men’s arrest.
Those arrested were forced out of the van while being ordered to carry along with them the server system now in their custody as exhibit for whatever reason the arrest was aimed at.
When Champion correspondent was asked to do same, it was then he brought his Identity Card to identify himself as a journalist, only then, right before the State Security Adviser, did the same naval officer, who had robed him into the arrest began landing him slaps and forcing him to carry part of the server, constitutuing the exhibits of the arrest.
By the slaps, the journalist was thrown into momentary darkness, he could not see his way through for minutes, all he felt was the same naval officer pushing him to move forward. He managed to open his left his eyes, he was now before Mr. Ngaji, who looking at him and appearing to have recognised him as a reknown journalist in the state.
“What is this one too doing here,” Ngaji asked.
Mr. Akpet responded, “You know me S.A, I don’t know why your men brought me here and why they are manhandling me.”
Ngaji snobbed him motioning that he be taken in and walked away.
While in the custody of the state security department when one Mr. David Ofem did not get satisfractory response on why Daily Champion correspondent was also arrested, he ordered that the journalist be released; that was later in the night. But only at about 8am the following morning that the journalist was able to have access to his press devices.
What Daily Champion correspondent suffered on that fateful day underscores the style and manner of arrests being made in Nigeria by security operatives; no warrant of arrest is shown nor any explanation offered to those being arrested; which violates police written arrest tenets; and in most cases culprits are being abused in the course of the arrest.
In addition, Nigeria, despite aclaiming to be a more advanced country in Africa still records a high brutality on journalists by security operatives given any slightest provocation.
Meanwhile, while David Jay, Audacity ICT owner was released that night, he said he is yet to get wind on the whereabout of the 18 year old girl working under him. And that the explanation he later got about why he was arrested was that one Emem Abasi Cultural Group was suspected to be using his resource centre to commit scams, an issue he said he is yet to fully be abreast.
