REPORTER’S DIARY: From National Assembly to Hilton, I was glad it was teargas, not gunshots

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I heard gunshots, so I thought. For a second, my mind was blank. I recall lying flat beside my colleague on the freshly mowed lawn at the entrance of the Transcorp Hilton Hotel. I became mindful after a passerby shouted at us to keep moving instead of lying flat on the ground.

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Twice in less than a month, I became a victim of the indiscriminate use of teargas by the Nigerian police. The first incident occurred last month while I covered the resumption of Kogi Central Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan to the Senate from a six-month suspension, accompanied by her crowd of supporters. The senator’s backers marched in solidarity with her from the FCT High Court in Maitama to the gates of the National Assembly in the Three Arms Zone, Abuja. Unprovoked, the police suddenly began firing teargas at the crowd outside the National Assembly gate, which included numerous journalists—myself among them—who were waiting after Mrs Akpoti Uduaghan had entered accompanied by his aides.

While the first experience was unexpected, on this second occasion during Monday’s #FreeNnamdiKanu protest in the capital city, I looked forward to the indiscriminate use of teargas or other forms of harassment by the police; it had become their modus operandi in policing a crowd.

Though Monday morning traffic is typically heavy on my regular routes, this edition was out of this world. I was en route to cover the #FreeNnamdiKanu protest expected to kick off around the Transcorp Hilton Hotel. Demonstrators, led by human rights activist Omoyele Sowore, gathered at the location to advocate for the release of separatist Nnamdi Kanu, the detained leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).

Along the way, I noticed the presence of soldiers at Maitama junction, opposite Mpape junction. The usual taxis that transported commuters from the junction to Gana Street or AP filling station at the Hilton Hotel junction were nowhere to be found.

Commuters, unable to find shuttle cars, had to trek down to Habiba Plaza to get a taxi.

My colleague and I took a taxi, but police roadblocks prevented the driver from taking us to the specific protest venue. We had to trek the rest of the way.

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We attempted to approach the police officers barricading the road leading to the Federal Secretariat area, but they would not budge and forced us to turn back.

As we navigated the chaotic area to find our other colleagues deployed to cover the protest, we came across a small cluster of #FreeNnamdiKanu protesters attempting to regroup. The police earlier dispersed the vast crowd using teargas.

We tried to capture these protesters on camera.  They were chanting “Holy, holy, holy Nnamdi Kanu is another saviour.”

However, nothing prepared me for the crack of teargas canisters; it sounded like gunshots.

In a split second, my colleague pulled me down as she dived on the lawn in front of the Transcorp Hilton Hotel.

While on the ground, I peeped and saw a police armoured van patrolling the road and an officer standing in the vehicle’s turret, firing tear gas.

At that moment, my apprehension dissipated; I was somewhat relieved they were not firing guns.

It was a relief, but it stays as a memory that will continue to provoke questions. When will Nigerian police and security forces ever outgrow responding harshly to civil actions? Won’t this Hilton experience just be the last?