The police in Lagos on Tuesday night arrested many essential workers, including journalists and doctors, for allegedly defying the 8 p.m to 5 a.m curfew imposed on the state by the federal government over the novel coronavirus pandemic.But a reporter who witnessed it all said the arrests were malicious.
The police mounted several checkpoints on several parts of Lagos on Tuesday night to enforce the curfew during which they arrested many essential workers.
The health workers, journalists, bank officials and other essential workers had been caught in heavy traffic caused by the checkpoints when they were arrested.
Among those arrested were Ivy Kanu, a crime correspondent with TVC News, and Chuks Oluigbo, the News Editor of BusinessDay newspaper.
They were later detained at a police station and their vehicles impounded.
‘Order from above’
Yusuf Adekunle, the Head of Investigation at The Nation newspaper who was also held up in the traffic, told PREMIUM TIMES that the journalists were arrested out of police annoyance at the media.
“They were all angry that all the loopholes in the COVID-19 directives, the media were heaping them on the police,” he said.
Mr Adekunle said the police mounted a checkpoint at Testing Ground, Alausa shortly after 8 p.m when the traffic had built up to Allen Avenue roundabout.