One of the blocked roads
“I was about leaving the place when I saw the women praying for peace to reign in the state. I felt it was a spiritual approach to the trouble in the state, so I decided to take the picture. The thugs emerged from their hideouts and swooped on me.
“I kept shouting ‘I’m a journalist’ but they did not show me mercy as they pounced on me. They were like 50 persons kicking me all at the same time. They dragged me out of the car and continued hitting me. At a time, one of them went to carry a big plank of wood in an attempt to hit my head.
“Two policemen raced to the scene to intervene but they were overwhelmed by the mob. One of the policemen started shouting, ‘run, run, run, don’t let them kill you!’ I thought the end had come because they continued beating me. Luckily for me, a few among them felt they had beaten me enough and started fighting their colleagues to let me go. I capitalised on their disagreement and with the help of the police, I quickly escaped.”
The governor later called one of the leaders of the Nigerian Union of Journalist in the state to apologise for his supporters’ action. He also expressed regret over the mob action, Punch said.
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