Assault: NUJ sues Customs for N500m

By OKOSUN DENNIS

The Lagos State Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) has filed a N500 million damage against the Nigerian Customs Service for the brutal assault of a Lagos-based journalist, Yomi Olomofe.

It would be recalled that on June 22, 2015, some customs officers aided some smugglers to beat Olomofe, who is the Chairman, Editorial Board of Badagry Prime, a news magazine, to a state of coma, within the premises of the Customs Seme-Border Command in Badagry.

Lawyer to the NUJ and the brutalized journalist, Jiti Ogunye said at the Alausa Secretariat of the NUJ that the suit is before a Federal High Court in Lagos.

He said the brutal assault on the journalist by unidentified persons within the premises of Nigerian Customs Service over six months was in clear violation of his fundamental human rights.

Ogunye noted that one of their demands from the court was to make pronouncement against the treatment meted on the journalist who was left at refuse dump after the beating on the premise that he was dead. He explained that medical reports indicated that the journalist who is still recuperating from the beating and suffered severe injury and psychological trauma after the incident.

The human rights lawyer said it was unfortunate that journalists that played a prominent role in the return of democracy to the country have continued to be battered by security agents and the powers that be.

On his part, the National President of the Nigerian Union of Journalists, Waheed Odusile vowed that the group would not allow the matter to be swept under the carpet saying they will see it to a logical conclusion.

Odusile noted that letters written to the police and the Nigerian Customs Service for thorough investigation into the matter many months back have fell on deaf ears. He insisted that the media practitioners would never be intimated in the course of their duty so long they are within the ethics of the profession.

Also speaking, the Lagos state Chairman of the NUJ, Deji Elumoye urged the media practitioners to fully support the course of getting justice for Yomi Olomofe saying injury to one is injury to all.

It was gathered that the Badagry based journalist was severely dealt with on June 22, 2015 by hoodlums believed to be working for the Nigerian Customs Service at seme border.