The Coalition for Whistleblower Protection and Press Freedom (CWPPF) is demanding immediate sanctions and a transparent investigation following a brutal attack on Mr Sunday Michael Ogwu, the Editor of Pinnacle Daily, a Nigerian online Newspaper, by operatives of the Nigeria Police Force and members of the Vigilante Group of Nigeria (VGN) in the Lugbe area of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
The group condemned the violent assault, harassment, and destruction of working tools suffered by Mr Ogwu, who was flogged with an electric cable and had his mobile phone destroyed by officers led by the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of the Lugbe Police Division, CSP Uchenna.
CWPPF called on the Inspector-General of Police, Tunji Disu, and the FCT Police Command to immediately investigate the incident, sanction the officers involved, and compensate the journalist for injuries and damaged equipment.
According to a statement issued by the coalition on Thursday, August 20, 2026, the attack occurred on Wednesday evening, August 19, near the Lugbe Federal Housing Estate (FHA). Mr. Ogwu was taking a walk when he encountered a joint demolition exercise involving security personnel in four Lugbe Police Division patrol vans alongside VGN operatives.
Trouble began when Ogwu used his mobile phone to record the public exercise. A police officer forcibly snatched his device without warning. Despite identifying himself as a working journalist, officers surrounded Ogwu, attempted to force him into a patrol vehicle alongside arrested local youths, and flogged him with an electric cable on the orders of the team leader, identified as CSP Uchenna.
After his phone was initially returned and he walked about 100 metres away to send a distress message and record a video detailing the assault, officers pursued him again. They dragged him back to the demolition site and subjected him to a second round of flogging, with the officer in charge declaring that the initial beating “was not enough.” Intervening passersby eventually urged Ogwu to leave the area for his safety. The attack left the editor injured and his mobile phone severely damaged.
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Describing the assault as unprovoked brutality, CWPPF emphasised that documenting public operations by state agents is a constitutionally protected right not a criminal offence.
“It is therefore worrisome that police officers, duty-bound to enforce law and order, would resort to using electric cables to torture a journalist for performing his civic and professional duties,” the group stated.
The press freedom coalition reaffirmed that “journalism is not a crime,” stressing that the duty of the press is to hold public institutions accountable, which is guaranteed by the Nigerian Constitution.
The CWPPF outlined four key demands for the police leadership. These include that the IGP and the FCT Police Command should launch an immediate investigation into the assault, provide compensation for damages and medical expenses, issue a formal apology, and direct all police divisions to cease the harassment of journalists covering public events.
The coalition reiterated its commitment to ensuring a safe environment for journalists to discharge their duties without fear of retaliation.
