Soldier beats TheCable journalist to stupor in Lagos traffic

A journalist with TheCable, Olalekan Fakoyejo, has narrated how he was allegedly assaulted by a soldier during a traffic-related incident in the Ogba area of Lagos State.

Fakoyejo, who is the Assistant Business Editor at TheCable, told PUNCH Metro on Monday that the incident occurred on Saturday while he was travelling in a tricycle from Ikeja to Ogba.

According to him, soldiers were controlling traffic around the Pleasant Event Centre off Ajao Road when a confrontation began involving another tricycle driver who had attempted to navigate the area.

He said one of the soldiers stopped the rider and ordered him to step out of the tricycle and climb on its roof as punishment, a move he described as causing unnecessary obstruction.

Fakoyejo said he commented that the action was worsening traffic, which he believes drew the soldier’s attention.

He alleged that the soldier then dragged him out of the tricycle, threatened him, and ordered him to report to other soldiers nearby, a directive he refused, insisting he had done nothing wrong.

According to him, the situation escalated when another soldier arrived and attempted to mediate, but the first soldier allegedly slapped him while he was speaking.

He further claimed that the soldier shoved him repeatedly, causing his phone to fall and the screen to break, while also attempting to strike him with a cudgel picked from the ground.

An eyewitness video reportedly captured parts of the incident, showing the soldier confronting and pushing the journalist.

Fakoyejo added that passers-by eventually advised him to leave the scene to avoid further escalation, but said he was still later confronted by two soldiers who allegedly threatened him again as he walked away.

Attempts to get a reaction from the Nigerian Army spokesperson, Appolonia Anele, were unsuccessful at the time of filing the report.

The incident adds to a growing list of concerns over alleged assaults involving military personnel and civilians in public spaces, which have previously triggered public outrage and calls for accountability.

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