A soldier assaulted Olalekan Fakoyejo, assistant business editor with TheCable, over a remark on traffic obstruction around Ikeja in Lagos state.

The incident occurred on Saturday, May 2, as Fakoyejo made his way to Ogba from Ikeja inside a tricycle popularly known as ‘Keke Napep’.

Some soldiers were seen directing traffic when the tricycle conveying the journalist snaked before Pleasant Event Centre, off Ajao road, Ikeja.

A soldier then asked another rider to pull over and get aboard his tricycle as punishment — a development that further snarled traffic for awhile.

Some soldiers were seen directing traffic when the tricycle conveying the journalist snaked before Pleasant Event Centre, off Ajao road, Ikeja.

A soldier then asked another rider to pull over and get aboard his tricycle as punishment — a development that further snarled traffic for awhile.

The tricycle conveying Fakoyejo was caught up in the ensuing gridlock.

Displeased, Fakoyejo told other passengers that the soldier was responsible for the standstill.

A dark-complexioned soldier overheard Fakoyejo and ordered the journalist and other passengers to disembark.

The soldier dragged Fakoyejo off the tricycle and demanded to know what gave him the effrontery to speak in the manner he did.

The journalist told the soldier that he did nothing wrong by speaking out.

The official grew irate and asked Fakoyejo to report himself to his colleagues who were not close to the scene of the incident.

As Fakoyejo made to explain what happened to the soldier’s colleague who was approaching, the officer who caused the bedlam dished a slap on the editor.

A video, filmed by an eyewitness, showed the soldier repeatedly shoving the journalist while attempting to hit him with a cudgel picked from the floor.

As the soldier pushed Fakoyejo, the journalist’s phone hit the tarmac, with the screen shattering to bits in the process.

Some passersby thereafter pleaded with Fakoyejo to leave the scene to avoid being beaten to a pulp or slain by the operative.

The incident occurred just days after a soldier’s bullet cut short the life of a National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) member in Nigeria’s capital city of Abuja.

Source: The Cable