The Traffic

FIJ Journalist Brutally Assaulted, Threatened With Beheading by Lagos Police Over Extortion Probe

A disturbing scene unfolded on Friday evening at the Ikeja Police Command in Lagos, where Daniel Ojukwu, a journalist with the Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ), was brutally assaulted, robbed of his belongings, and threatened with beheading by policemen after he attempted to question officers accused of extorting detainees.

According to FIJ, Ojukwu arrived at the command around 6 p.m. to meet with the Complaints Response Unit (CRU) and sought to engage the implicated officers at the Squad 1 office. But almost immediately, three policemen pounced on him, seizing his phone and rifling through it against his objections.

When Ojukwu protested the violation of his privacy, one officer in civilian clothes—white shirt and blue jeans—shoved him out of the office. Moments later, a bulkier officer snatched his phone, sparking a violent struggle. The man in white forced Ojukwu’s head down and drove his knee into the journalist’s face, shattering his eyeglasses and leaving him dazed.

Witnesses said as many as six more policemen joined the assault, clawing at him for control of the phone. His wristwatch was torn off, his arm bloodied, and his SIM card slipped out of his pouch during the chaos.

The ordeal worsened when Ojukwu was dragged into another office, where a shorter officer brandished a machete and menaced, “I will cut off your neck now. You think here is child’s play?” Ojukwu ducked in fear, and the earlier attacker restrained the machete-wielding officer, but the intimidation persisted.

At one point, when Ojukwu complained of shortness of breath outside the second-in-command’s office, another officer sneered: “You will die here, and the autopsy will show asthma killed you, not police brutality.”

Only later, when Benjamin Hundeyin, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), arrived, did the tension temporarily ease. The officers admitted to seizing Ojukwu’s phone and assaulting him, but claimed he had “broken the law” by taking a photograph on police premises. Ojukwu countered, insisting: “The picture was sent to me. I only want to see the men. There is no law barring me from entering here with my phone.”

Hundeyin pressed the officers, asking whether the CCTV was running, to which they chorused “Yes.” He promised accountability, assuring: “We will see the CCTV and get to the root of it. We will also return the extorted money to the victim.” Addressing Ojukwu, he added: “I am sorry. We would like to replace your eyeglasses frame and wristwatch strap as well as pay damages.”

But Ojukwu rejected the offer, demanding instead to file a formal complaint against the policemen who attacked him. Hundeyin acknowledged his right, saying he was duty-bound to record the complaint. However, before the process could begin, he was summoned by his superiors.

By the time Ojukwu left the command for medical checks on possible concussion or head trauma, the officers implicated in the extortion and assault remained at their posts—an outcome that has renewed public outrage over police impunity, brutality, and lack of accountability in Nigeria.

By Haruna Yakubu Haruna