Police Crackdown On Protesting Journalists In Ilorin

OPERATIVES of the Kwara State Police Command on Friday clamped down on journalists protesting the detention of a colleague in the state.   The journalists staged a protest at the police headquarters over the detention of Dare Akogun, who works with Sobi FM, and his brother Abdulrasheed.   According to the Head of News and Current Affairs at Sobi FM Adebayo Abubakar, some of the protesting journalists were brutalised and detained by the police.   “Serious beating and tear-gassing of journalists staging a peaceful protest are ongoing at the police headquarters now. The protest is over the detention of Dare Akogun and Abdulrasheed Akogun, who are due to be charged to court this morning.   “I gathered that two journalists have been beaten up and dragged into the cell, after having been tear-gassed,” Abubakar said.   The journalist, Dare Akogun, and his brother Rasheed were detained at the Kwara State Police Command headquarters in Ilorin on Thursday.   The detention came after a petition to the police by Rafiu Ajakaye, Chief Press Secretary (CPS), to the Kwara State governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq.   Abubakar said that the petition was forwarded to the Commissioner of Police (CP) Tuesday Assayomo after an exchange of words between the CPS and the brothers.   The CP ordered the brothers to tender a written apology to Ajakaye or appear in court. Both brothers chose the latter option, after which the CP ordered their detention.   Ajakaye, however, stated that there was no argument between him and the brothers and alleged that they had written defamatory content against him on a WhatsApp platform.