The director of the International Center for Investigative Reporting (ICIR) – Dayo Aiyetan – brutally assaulted while covering Nigeria's Presidential and National Assembly elections.
This statement was originally published on mediarightsagenda.org on 30 March 2023.
Mr. Dayo Aiyetan, the Executive Director of the International Center for Investigative Reporting (ICIR), was on February 25, 2023, molested by hoodlums at Agwan Fulani Town Hall in Gwagwalada, Abuja while covering the Presidential and National Assembly elections.
Dayo was beaten while his phone, car key, purse and a pouch containing his debit cards, Nigeria and US driver’s licenses and other items were missing.
According to Dayo, there was a disturbance at a polling unit where a man was trying to upturn the canopy on top of INEC officials. He began recording the scene only to be ordered by another man to stop recording, which he did. However, he said within seconds, he was surrounded by hordes of people – miscreants, thugs etc.
They beat him, tore his clothes, and in the process, he lost phone, car key, purse and a pouch containing his debit cards, Nigeria and US driver’s licenses and other items. He was, however, able to fight to keep his camera.
He added: “A guy brought out a knife and tried to stab me. I kicked him with my steel-toed Skechers and … fortunately, apart from a few scratches, I escaped unhurt.”
Dayo disclosed that CSP Hamza Sadiq, the DPO of Gwagwalada, assisted him to recover his phone and car key, but his voter’s card, driver’s licenses, debit cards and purse were not recovered.
