Journalist, others shot as hoodlums attack protesters in Lokoja

The Sun Newspapers correspondent in Kogi, Emmanuel Adeyemi, was among some persons that were shot in Lokoja on Monday during a bloody clash between #EndSARS protesters and political thugs.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) learnt that Mr Adeyemi was shot as he made his way to the NUJ Press Centre on Lugard Road in Lokoja, while another unidentified person was also shot on the same road.

The two persons were rushed to the Lokoja City Clinic, a private facility where they are currently being treated.

Several other people were also shot by the rampaging gunmen, who engaged the protesting youth in different parts of Lokoja.

The hoodlums, who were moving about in five unmarked vehicles, also visited Cemetery Road Junction, where they shot sporadically into the air.

Shops and business premises hurriedly closed down while residents fled in different directions for their safety.

The development has forced journalists in Lokoja, the state capital, to go into hiding, following information that the gunmen were after them.

The #EndSARS protest took a dramatic turn on October 25 in Lokoja when some protesters began massive looting of public and private warehouses and shops.

The looting continued until Monday, with youth invading a government warehouse located on Hassan Usman Katsina Road to loot various items.

The protesters, who forced their way into the warehouse, carted away mattresses, drugs and food items.

Security agents deployed to the warehouse were over-powered by the protesters, who after looting the warehouse, headed for the city centre.

They vandalised the ATM of a UBA branch along Babangida Road and other facilities in the area.

It was while the looting was going on that the armed thugs emerged to engage them in a bloody clash that left socio-economic activities paralysed for hours.

The thugs fired indiscriminately, hitting people as they fired.

The spokesperson of the Kogi State Police Command, William Aya, confirmed the shooting of the journalist, saying that the police had deployed a vehicle quickly to take him to hospital.

Mr Aya said he was still compiling reports to know the exact figure of casualties, noting, however, that calm had been restored to the city.

He said also that six of the protesters, who invaded the state’s Agricultural Development Programme warehouse at Felele area of Lokoja on October 25 had been arrested.

He named some items recovered from the looters as bags of fertilisers, chemicals and motorcycles.