by Adeola Balogun

New reports have claimed that a photojournalist was beaten up yesterday and assaulted by men of the police force in Kogi State.

The journalist, Okanyi Enemali, was said to have taken a photo of a policeman in the act of collecting a bribe in Lokoja, the state capital.

The incident was said to have occurred in front of the Lokoja Specialist Hospital and Enemali was said to have been pummeled and battered by not less than 8 armed police officers.

According to Sahara Reporters:

As many as eight armed policemen beat the helpless man for about 30 minutes until he almost lost consciousness. The policemen then dragged him into their Hilux van which the inscription: B OPS KGS COMMAND 1.

Eyewitnesses believe that if Okanyi does not receive proper medical attention, he is unlikely to survive the assault. There was no report on his condition as this report was being filed.

As he was being bundled into the vehicle, Okanyi kept crying, “I’m a journalist, save me”.

Policemen in Nigeria, famously corrupt, are understood to be nervous over compromising pictures and video of bribe-taking among their ranks that have been published in recent times.

Police Public Relation Officer in the state later told SaharaReporters that the Divisional Police Officer in the area did not report any incident of such to the Police command. He said nothing of such happened in the state.