June 12: Policeman slaps BBC journalist, seizes phone in Oyo

A BBC reporter, simply identified as Micheal, was on Saturday attacked by a police officer during #June12Protest at Mokola in Ibadan, Oyo State.

The reporter, who works with BBC Pidgin, was slapped while trying to record the harassment of protesters by security operatives.

He was attacked by a police officer identified as S. A. Oke. The officer also seized the reporter’s phone.

The police officer threatened to kill any protester who refused to listen to their orders. Some officers were heard saying protest is ‘illegal on democracy day’.

Some Nigerians took to the streets in peaceful protests against what they called bad governance, public corruption, other forms of maladministration and the worsening state of insecurity in the country.

The June 12 protest organised by civil society organisations and activists was held simultaneously in different cities across the various states of the federation, including Lagos and Abuja.