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Operatives of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) arrested two journalists of the Agence France-Presse (AFP) who were covering the #FreeNnamdiKanuNow protest in Abuja, the nation’s capital city.
The journalists were identified as Nick Roll, an American; and John Okunyomih, a videographer who is Nigerian.
TheCable understands that both men were at the entrance of the Transcorp hotel in Maitama as police officers fired teargas at protesters.
The AFP staffers were filming the chaos when officers violently accosted and attempted to restrain them.
During the confrontation, their camera got damaged while their phones were seized.
The operatives also allegedly yanked off the journalists’ teargas protection.
Subsequently, Roll was released but Okunyomih was taken to the FCT command criminal investigation department (CID), and let go much later.
The police also arrested Aloy Ejimakor, one of the lawyers representing Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
Earlier, police emptied teargas canisters on commuters at the Central Business District of Abuja as activists assembled to commence the protest.
Some of the commuters were waiting for vehicles to take them to workplaces when they were teargassed.
The protest is being spearheaded by Omoyele Sowore, publisher of Sahara Reporters and ex-presidential candidate.
Kanu has been in the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS) since his re-arrest in June 2021. He has been on trial at the federal high court in Abuja.
