Operatives of the Directorate of State Service (DSS) on Monday battered some journalists at the Osun State House of Assembly, while their mobile phones were equally smashed.
The journalists were on their official duty at the Assembly, to cover a solidarity procession in support of Local Government Autonomy when the incident happened.
One of the journalists, Mr Timothy Agbor, of The Point Newspaper, who spoke with our reporter said he was accosted by a female operative, who could not be identified, as she was not on uniform or armed.
According to Agbor, the lady queried his mission at the Assembly, in which he identified himself as a journalist. She later called on another colleague, who was heavily drunk to drag him to an unknown place.
Agbor added that his resistance towards the unwarranted molestation made the two operatives to brutalize him and smashed his mobile phone.
In the same vein, another online reporter, Mr Toba Ajisafe, who suffered the same fate in the hands of the security agents narrated his ordeal, saying it was a dark day for journalists at the Assembly.
Ajisafe opined that the strange reactions of the operatives were worrisome and dangerous, adding that their action appeared to be a predetermined move to emasculate the press.
He said the operatives tactically singled them out of multitudes at the assembly, and began to molest them.
“This is indeed an aberration in a democratic setting, for the fact that this happened at the House of Assembly made it more absurd.
“We were brutalised for no just cause, our gadgets were destroyed, this is disheartening, and dangerous for our society.
“We demand for justice, not only because of this present development, but because of other innocent Nigerians who could become victims of this barbaric acts in the future, if something is not done fast to check such misconduct,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Chairman of Nigeria Union of Journalists(NUJ) in Osun, Comrade Abiodun Olalere has condemned the act in strong terms, described it as unacceptable and barbaric.
He said the union will resist any move to subjugate and silence journalists in the state, no matter who is involved.
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