Drunk “Soldier” Assaults Vanguard Reporter
A security and politics Correspondent with Vanguard Newspapers was Friday night assaulted by a “soldier” who violated his right of way at the gate of City Park in Abuja.
The incident occurred at about 9:30pm after the journalist Omeiza Ajayi, in company of his brother, Michael left the park in their vehicles.
Narrating his ordeal, Omeiza said; “I closed from work at about 8pm and decided to see my brother, Michael who was entertaining some of his guests at the Park. We left at about 9:25pm and I drove in their front but just before we approached the gate, a light brown, 2005 Toyota Highlander Jeep marked LAGOS LND 968 BP attempted to overtake by my right side. Seeing that there was no way he could do that, the driver then slowed down a bit and attempted to overtake me by my left side, slightly brushing me in the process and blocking my exit door. Rather than apologise, he, along with two male occupants of the jeep came down, but without putting the car on Park mode, a situation that made it reverse a little and again brushing my car in the process. Because he had inadvertently blocked by exit door, I could not come down and then he started raining a flurry of blows on my face until I held his shirt in such a way that he had to gasp for breathe. Unfortunately for him, his plastic Identification Card which he was holding, got broken in the process of assaulting me and because he was too drunk, he didn’t notice it”.
A quick search on the electronic vehicle registration app of the Directorate of Road Traffic Services DRTS in Abuja showed that the vehicle has not been properly registered.
Asked to properly identify himself, the “soldier” brought out an identity card which he also covered with his fingers, in order that his true identity be not ascertained.
According to Omeiza, while he bled, the soldier who was in mufti threatened to call for a reinforcement, a development that forced some guests at the Park to threaten his arrest before entering is jeep and speeding off.
“I was traumatized by this incident and had to undergo treatment for the injury sustained as well as take other medicines to halt the severe stomach ache I experienced as a result of having to swallow my own blood, the soldier having injured me on the chin. I bled from Wuse 2 to my house”, Omeiza recalled.
Vowing to pursue the issue to a logical conclusion, the journalist asked military authorities to retrain their personnel and make them conform to global best practices in civil-military relationship.
“Imagine if he had a gun on him? Such a man could easily have gone on a shooting spree”.
