APC thugs ambush Peoples Gazette’s reporter at Lagos polling unit, delete files from her cloud storage

A raving mob of ruling APC supporters attacked a reporter for Peoples Gazette while she was on election duty in Lagos on Saturday. 

Adebola Ajayi, a Lagos metro beat reporter, saw her mobile phone briefly confiscated shortly after snapping photographs and filming in Orile-Oshodi Ward, where the rampaging thugs were terrorising polling centres in the city’s central suburb of Oshodi.

The hoodlums had threatened residents to vote only for Bola Tinubu, the presidential candidate of the APC, and chased away officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission.

About 15 thugs charged towards Ms Ajayi, who was the only reporter at the scene, and quickly snatched her phone to erase all photos and videos she had captured.

“After deleting the photos and videos from my phone, they also forcibly accessed my cloud storage to also delete the materials there,” Ms Ajayi said as she narrated the traumatic experience that occurred around 11:30 a.m.

Ms Ajayi, who did not sustain physical injuries, said a police officer who was at the scene was helpless during the assault. A spokesman for the police in Lagos did not immediately return a request seeking comments about the incident.

Security operatives arrived at the scene at noon and allowed voting to commence at 12:20 a.m. at PU 067 and PU 110, Orile-Oshodi, Oshodi-Isolo LGA.