Bayelsa State Correspondent of The Guardian, Mr. Julius Osahon, escaped death by a whisker after he was brutalised by a Police Sergeant attached to the state security outfit, Operation Doo Akpo.
The policeman, identified as Idus Emmanuel, with Doo Akpo vehicle number 082, battered the journalist with fist blows and slaps, after which the police officer corked his service rifle and threatened to shoot him.
Narrating his ordeal, Osahon, who said he was getting better after undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Yenagoa, stressed that the police officer went after him because he sought to know why their bus was being delayed.
He said he had petitioned the Special Adviser to the Governor on Security Matters, Bomo Spero-Jack and the Bayelsa Commissioner of Police, urging the relevant authorities to investigate the incident with a view to bringing Sergeant Emmanuel to book.
In the petition made available to newsmen in Yenagoa on Friday, Osahon said, “I was coming from Benin City where I had gone to see my family when the incident took place and it was in the full glare of passengers with me in a bus we boarded from Warri, Delta State. The Sergeant corked his service rifle and threatened to shoot me.
“He pointed the gun at me and ordered me to lie down. I tried to find out why he asked me to lie down and he angrily barked at me that I was refusing a lawful order.
“It was at that point that he started giving me some slaps and fist blows. As I write this letter, I am still nursing the injury he inflicted on my right ear at a private hospital.
“I still cannot fathom what warranted Sgt Emmanuel to batter me or threaten to kill me because I never exchanged words with him or any member in his team.”
