The Coalition for Whistleblowers Protection and Press Freedom (CWPPF) has accused the FCT Police Command of diverting attention from allegations of assault against Pinnacle Daily Editor, Sunday Ogwu, by focusing on the journalist’s conduct after the incident.
The Coalition, in a follow-up statement issued on Saturday, renewed its demand for an independent investigation into the alleged assault of Ogwu by police and Vigilante Group of Nigeria (VGN) personnel during an operation at Lugbe, Abuja, on August 19.
The demand followed a statement issued on Friday by the FCT Police Command through its spokesperson, SP Josephine Adeh, which criticised Ogwu for allegedly failing to honour invitations to appear before the Command and for purportedly attempting to mobilise public sentiment and create undue pressure.
CWPPF, however, said the police statement failed to address the central allegations raised by the journalist, including the alleged physical assault, the reported use of an electric cable and the destruction of his mobile phone.
“The Command’s 21 August statement does not address the substance of Mr Ogwu’s allegation. It does not confirm or deny that he was assaulted, does not identify the officers involved, and does not address the use of an electric cable or the destruction of his phone,” the Coalition said.
According to the group, the police statement focused “almost entirely” on Ogwu’s failure to appear at the Command headquarters, rather than the allegations against the security personnel involved in the operation.
CWPPF said Ogwu personally reported the incident to the FCT Police spokesperson at about 8:30 p.m. on August 19, approximately three hours after the alleged assault, before seeking legal advice and support from press-freedom organisations.
The Coalition maintained that seeking legal counsel and engaging media-rights organisations before making a formal statement to the same police command allegedly implicated in the incident was a reasonable precaution and not an attempt to frustrate an investigation.
It also raised concerns over what it described as conflicting accounts regarding the identity of the security personnel involved.
According to CWPPF, the FCT Police spokesperson initially told the International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR), a member of the Coalition, that the officers involved were likely not under the FCT Command.
The group said the Command’s subsequent statement neither repeated nor clarified the claim.
CWPPF also cited an account attributed to the Lugbe Divisional Police Officer, CSP Ukorobo Uchenna C., who, when contacted by the Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ), allegedly did not deny that an assault occurred but asked whether Ogwu had personally seen or spoken to him.
The Coalition said the response further raised questions about the identity of the personnel involved without resolving the substantive allegation of assault.
It also referenced a separate publication by the Lugbe Community Security Committee which reportedly commended the Commissioner of Police and identified CSP Uchenna as the officer who led an operation in the area on the same date.
According to CWPPF, the publication described the operation as an anti-drug exercise, while Ogwu and the Coalition had characterised it as a demolition operation.
The Coalition said the discrepancies in the accounts reinforced the need for an independent investigation.
“Taken together, CWPPF is concerned that the substantive allegation of assault risks being displaced by a competing narrative about the complainant’s conduct,” it said.
The group further disclosed that Ogwu had sought medical treatment for injuries allegedly sustained during the incident and was consequently unable to honour the police invitation.
It said the journalist had nevertheless committed to appearing before the Command on Monday, August 24, accompanied by his lawyers.
CWPPF argued that an investigation conducted entirely within the police command implicated in the allegations would create an “inherent perception problem”, regardless of the intentions of individual officers.
It therefore called on the Inspector-General of Police, Tunji Disu, and the FCT Police Command to transfer the investigation to an independent mechanism outside the direct command structure allegedly implicated in the incident.
The Coalition also demanded the public identification of the officers and unit deployed to the Lugbe Federal Housing Estate operation on August 19, as well as reconciliation of that information with the earlier claim that the personnel involved might not have been under the FCT Command.
It called for the preservation and production of deployment records, operational orders, patrol vehicle logs and any available CCTV or body-camera footage relating to the operation.
The group further demanded an apology and full compensation for the alleged destruction of Ogwu’s mobile phone, as well as reimbursement of medical expenses arising from the incident.
CWPPF urged the police to refrain from publicly characterising Ogwu’s conduct until the allegations against the officers involved have been transparently investigated.
It also called for clear directives to all police divisions in the FCT affirming journalists’ right to document public operations without obstruction, seizure of equipment or physical harm.
“Journalism is not a crime, and documenting the public conduct of state agents is a constitutionally protected right, which has been judicially affirmed,” the Coalition said.
CWPPF comprises media, civil society and legal organisations, including Premium Times, Daily Trust, ICIR, the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID), the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism, Media Rights Agenda, the Nigeria Union of Journalists, International Press Institute Nigeria and the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), among others.
The Coalition said it would continue to monitor the matter and support what it described as a credible, transparent and independent process capable of producing a satisfactory resolution.
