Civil Defence officers shoot at journalists to cover up FRSC extortion

Officers of the Imo State Command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) yesterday went weird, shooting sporadically at journalists who came to defend an ailing woman reportedly facing extortion in the hands of some men of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC).
The AUTHORITY on Sunday correspondent who was also among the journalists when the incident occurred, reported that nobody was hit by the bullets as they all ran into a nearby building, with most of them injured in the process.
According to our correspondent, the husband of the woman who was being rushed to hospital over a miscarriage, Mr. Paschal Opara, said money was demanded from him by a Road Safety officer who claimed his vehicle licence had expired.
The incident attracted the attention of the journalists who were on duty at the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) secretariat in Owerri, opposite the state command of the NSCDC and roadblock mounted by the FRSC.
Unfortunately, Nnamdi Okonya, of Silverbird TV; Tope Kuteyi of Channels TV and Obioma Oburuoga of AIT, who were first to get to the scene intervened and begged the NSCDC and FRSC officers to let the couple go but were descended upon and beaten to pulp by the Civil Defence officers.
Their anger, according to one of the victims who narrated the incident to The AUTHORITY on Sunday, was that the journalists brought out cameras to record the intimidation of the couple who refused to part with what they demanded from them.
Okonya said, “We only appealed to them to let them go after seeing the patient bleeding from her miscarriage, but the FRSC man demanded for my identity card. I showed it to him and he seized it. Before we know what was happening, they started beating us.
“When my colleagues saw what was happening, they rushed to the scene. The NSCDC saw them and started shooting their guns, they ran back.
“When the retreating journalists came back, some of them were arrested by the NSCDC officials including the victims.
After several hours of detention at the NSCDC office, the journalists were released following a telephone call from the State Commissioner of Police, Taiwo Lakanu.
The state Police Public Relations Officer, Chimezie Norwel, confirmed the detention of the journalists but appealed to them to remain calm.
It would be recalled that similar incident occurred last year when the NSCDC officers who were protecting FRSC officers on duty on the same spot, shot some tricycle (Keke NAPEP) operators who were protesting the alleged N200 collected from them by officers of the FRSC along Okigwe Road.