The Lagos State Government has on Thursday, censured the abuse of a writer with Guild Press Limited, Benjamin Anaja, by Environmental Sanitation Corps (LAGESC) agents.
The incident which happened on Wednesday at Meiran bus stop along the Lagos Abeokuta expressway, saw Benjamin Anaja being dragged into LAGESC’s Green Maria and brutalized for recording the event of the Sanitation agents dislodging street traders in Meiran.
The Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Tunji Bello, in a statement issued on Thursday, apologised to the journalist and promised that the incident would be investigated and the culprits brought to book.
The official also apologized to the Guild publishing company and the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ)
Bello said Ajana would be invited to identify the culprits who assaulted him even after he identified himself as a journalist.
Despite producing his identity card, Anaja was dragged into the Green Maria, brutalized and detained for hours before he was eventually released at Ikeja Along bus stop.
The International Press Centre (IPC) has in a statement condemned the government agency for the assault, it says that it is worrisome that Benjamin was treated roughly even after identifying himself as a journalist