A phalanx of police officers this afternoon stormed the head office of Abuja based Peoples Gazette newspaper, according to a report on it’s website.
The report indicated that the police officers demanded to see Samuel Ogundipe, the paper’s Managing Editor Samue and reporter Adefemola Akintade, but both men were unavailable. In their stead, one of its editors and four other staff members were whisked away.
According to the report on the Gazette’s website, John Adenekan, an assistant managing editor, was taken away at about 12:35 p.m. by five armed police officers who broke into the paper’s office opposite NNPC Quarters in Utako.
As he was being led away, the Gazette said Adenekan told his colleagues that he was being taken to the Utako police division following the raid.
The Gazette has severally been targeted by the federal government, including denial of service to it’s website. The crux of government’s angst against the newspaper are it’s reports that expose corruption and other malfeasance in government circles.
“The Gazette has faced several attacks aimed at intimidating its journalists since its inception in September 2020, including the restriction of access to its website in January 2021 and the invasion of the same head office in January 2022 by the National Intelligence Agency (NIA),” part of the report reads.
