An Abuja mobile court sitting in Utako has sentenced an online Journalist to 6hrs Community Service and N5000 Fine.
The journalist
, Emma Bricks Oko was apprehended while using his phone to record a joint task team that was manhandling commercial motorcycle and tricycle operators in Apo area of the FCT. Passengers reportedly fell off a tricycle and got injured as the joint task team comprising of the Nigeria Police Force, Nigeria Security and Civil defence Corp and Vehicle Inspection Officers engaged the operator in a hot chase. The team were reportedly going after the transporters in a bid to arrest them over alleged violation of the stay at home order imposed by the federal government to check the spread of Covid 19.
The journalist. Bricks oko was spotted recording the ordeal of the transporters and injured passengers and was promptly arrested and first taken to the mobile court at Dantata bridge along lugbe road where the magistrate declined to hear the case yesterday. He was subsequently arraigned today at the Utako magistrate court where the magistrate, Mabel Bello summarily sentenced him to 3 hours comm work and a fine of N5,000 without granting the convict a fair hearing. Narratting his ordeal, Oko said he could not seat back and watch citizens were falling off a tricycle while being chased by the Task force team and decided to record the incident for onward publication with the hope that security team will learn to be civilize in their dealings with the people.
He said he was baffled by the judgement delivered by the magistrate who did even watch the video he recorded before passing her judgment. He accused the magistrate of criminalizing the recording of how Nigerians were being manhandled by the security forces.
He added that if things continue this way, security forces will keep killing Nigerians and nobody would help for fear of being criminalized for serving humanity.
Emma Bricks Oko who had worked as a reporter with ITV and love FM in the nation’s capital, is the online publisher of brickswrite and co- publisher of some other bloggs.