Prison Official Assaults Journalists Covering High Court

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Egyptian plain cloth policemen arrest a cameraman during a protest (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

On June 28, 2016, a prison official, Mr. A. A. Teriba, assaulted some journalists who attempted to take photographs of a convicted armed robber, Femi Adebowale, who was sentenced to death by hanging by a Lagos High Court sitting in Ikeja.

While Mr. Bisi Onanuga, a journalist with The Nation newspapers was trying to take a photograph of the convict who was being led out of the court, Mr. Teriba pounced on him. He also ordered Onanuga to hand over his BlackBerry, the phone he was using to take the photograph.

He thereafter manhandled and punched Onanuga on the chest, tore his shirt and in the process yanked three buttons ‎from the shirt.

After Onanuga passed the BlackBerry to Gbenga Adewoye of Africa Independent Television/RayPower, Teriba shifted his aggression to Adewoye whom he punched severally on the chest in an attempt to forcibly seize the phone from him.