Security guards opened fire on journalists from The PUNCH, The Cable, Premium Times, and Peoples Gazette who were inside the car.
Femi Kuku, an AIT video journalist, fractured his left leg while escaping the masked security guards who were shooting at the journalists.
Peter Afunanya, a spokesman for the DSS, however, stated that his agency’s employees would never shoot our correspondent or any other journalists covering the demonstration during his remarks at the Strategic Communications Interagency Policy Committee joint press briefing in Abuja on Monday.
Afunanya gave assurances to everyone, saying that an inquiry would be carried out to identify the perpetrators of the crime.
We need your help, he said. Because there is peace, we are advancing our professions. We’re not going to be sat here if law and order break down. Consult Gaza, Sudan, Somalia, and other places. For our country, we must establish permanent peace. In reference to our correspondent, PUNCH… You said, “The next time, properly establish their identity. People came to attack you.”
Our correspondent retorted that the agents were firing randomly, were not wearing a uniform, and could not be identified at that time.
Afunanya went on to say that uncertainty had resulted from the inability to identify the individuals who had shot at journalists.
Later on, he said that the claim would be looked into.
He claimed that everything was confusing, according to Afunanya. However, whether it involves our employees or not, we will look into some of these claims. However, that is not possible. We can rule that one out. Nobody, not even a journalist, would be shot by an SSS member unless and until it was justified to use such force. No. “We utilize maximal force when there is a threat to the lives of you or other citizens, not in the situation you have described. However, we will look into the concerns you have brought up as well.
Muyiwa Adejobi, the Force Public Relations Officer, refuted the police’s involvement as well.
Adejobi said that two AK-47 firearms had been found from the group of people who had shot at journalists, implying that they might be thugs.
He declared, “I don’t believe that police officers have been firing live ammunition in any of the states, and I don’t have that record.” I was informed that in Kano, where there are allegations of police involvement and firing… It is not a report I own. But all I know is that these demonstrators had two AK-47s that we were able to retrieve.
Who knows who pulled the trigger if we have been regaining our arms from them if they are armed? We find it quite difficult to stand there and claim that live gunfire has been used by the police or any other security organization. Thus, Solomon, don’t be shocked by the person who fired you.
Our correspondent countered that the people who shot at journalists were not thugs.
He claimed that upon reaching the national stadium, the demonstrators who had run into the nearby bushes were pursued by the uniformed police officers and the masked security guards.
“From what I heard from the FCT, I know we have not engaged with live ammunition,” Adejobi retorted. To the best of my knowledge and the nation’s history, these demonstrations have been handled skillfully. We should be proud of the security personnel for how we have handled these demonstrations. Managing a complex country like Nigeria is not easy.
