The Divisional Police Officer of the Ogudu Police Division, Lagos State, Chioma Ajunwa, on Monday attacked vendors selling The PUNCH and other newspapers in the Ogudu-Ojota area of Lagos State.
PUNCH Metro learnt that Ajunwa confiscated the newspapers and ordered that the men stop displaying the papers.
It was learnt that the DPO, an Olympic Gold medallist, was reacting to an earlier report by The PUNCH on the seizure of some newspapers last week and the demand for a N5,000 bail for the vendor arrested.
PUNCH Metro had reported on Friday that Ajunwa seized newspapers displayed at a junction on the Ogudu-Ojota Road.
She was also reported to have arrested one of the vendors, Idongesit Obot, who slept behind the counter till the following day.
The sum of N5,000 was allegedly demanded as Obot’s bail, but N1,500 was said to have been paid after much negotiation with the Investigating Police Officer.
A vendor, Aniekan Jackson, said Ajunwa was angry at the report and swooped on the vendors in the area on Monday.
He said, “She came very early this morning (Monday), seizing our newspapers. She also chased all the vendors at the Ojota bus stop. She said she does not want to see anybody here again, adding that we should report again to The PUNCH so that they can write about her again.
“What do we do now? She said we should rent shops. Are we going to stop selling The PUNCH because of her? Or are we going to rent shops for newspaper business?”
The Police Public Relations Officer, Kenneth Nwosu, had told our correspondent in the Friday publication that the DPO’s action was informed by the gridlock usually caused by readers who crowded news stands every morning.
Nwosu had said Ajunwa raided the area after several warnings did not yield any result.
But a newspaper agent in Ojota, Arnold Adekunle, faulted the police position, saying if the DPO really wanted to sanitise the area, she was supposed to work with the local government area authorities.
Adekunle said, “The police said there had been accidents on the road because of news stands, how many accidents have they recorded on the road? She is just making up things. She wants to assume the position of the local government’s boss.”
Another vendor, who identified himself simply as Suleiman, later informed our correspondent that the seized newspapers had been released to the vendors.
He added that the DPO had sworn never to allow them sell newspapers in the area.
“She said she does not want to see us again because we told you (The Punch) that the police demanded N5,000 from us. She said we should meet PUNCH to do more stories on her.
“There is no other place where we can sell papers, except by the roadside. We have been selling newspapers there for the past 10 years, and there has never been any accident.”
The police spokesperson, Nwosu, said, “The DPO is working as parts of efforts to ensure free flow of traffic in and around the Ogudu junction.
“Governor Babatunde Fashola, during his visit to the Area H headquarters, where he handed over an ICT resource centre to the state police command, directed all traders, including newspaper vendors, who obstruct traffic by selling along the road and the median to vacate such places.
“No newspapers were seized as the traders and vendors removed their wares from the aforementioned places.”
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