Policemen at the Ikeja Command in Lagos on Friday brutally assaulted Daniel Ojukwu, a journalist with the Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ), after he attempted to confront officers accused of extorting detainees.

Ojukwu had arrived at the station around 6 p.m. to meet with the Complaints Response Unit (CRU) and engage the implicated officers. Instead, three policemen pounced on him, seized his phone, and attacked him when he protested.

One officer kneed him in the face, shattering his glasses, while others scratched his arm, tore his wristwatch, and tried to seize his locked phone. At one point, an officer brandished a machete and threatened to kill him, saying, “I will cut off your neck now. You think here is child’s play?”

Ojukwu was later told by another officer, “You will die here, and the autopsy will show asthma killed you, not police brutality.”

When Lagos Police Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin, arrived, the officers admitted dragging Ojukwu’s phone and assaulting him but claimed he had broken the law by taking pictures at the station. Ojukwu denied this, insisting he only wanted to identify the extortionists.

Hundeyin assured that the CCTV footage would be reviewed and promised restitution, including compensation for Ojukwu’s broken eyeglasses and wristwatch. However, Ojukwu rejected the offer and insisted on filing a formal complaint against the policemen.

He later left the command to undergo medical checks for possible concussion and head trauma.