An Abuja-based journalist, Sunday Michael Ogwu, Editor of Pinnacle Daily, has accused police officers attached to the Lugbe Police Division and members of the Vigilante Group of Nigeria (VGN) of assaulting him, beating him with an electric cable and damaging his phone while he was covering a demolition exercise in Lugbe, Abuja.

The Finance Correspondents Association of Nigeria (FICAN) has condemned the alleged assault, describing it as a violation of press freedom and citizens’ rights.

Ogwu said the incident occurred at about 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, August 19, 2026, when he came across police officers and local vigilantes conducting a demolition exercise at the new site gate of the Federal Housing Authority in Lugbe Federal Housing Estate.

According to him, the officers objected to his filming of the operation, seized his phone and ordered him to delete the videos he had recorded.

Ogwu said he told the officers that journalists did not require permission to cover a public operation, but his explanation allegedly angered them.

He alleged that a senior officer supervising the operation ordered that he be beaten.

“I was given several strokes with an electric cable on the instruction of a senior officer leading the patrol team. I was given about 10 strokes before I was asked to leave,” he said.

Ogwu said the officers later returned his phone and ordered him to leave the area.

However, shortly after leaving the scene, he began a live video to narrate what had happened to him. He alleged that the officers saw him filming and returned to the scene, claiming that the Divisional Police Officer had ordered them to bring him back.

Videos and photographs later shared by Ogwu on social media showed bruises on his back and a cracked phone screen.

The journalist maintained that he had committed no offence by recording the public demolition exercise.

“Covering a police demolition exercise done in full public glare is not a crime. Instead of taking me to whoever they said ordered my arrest, the officers asked me to go after beating me up like a criminal,” he said.

FICAN described the incident as a serious violation of press freedom and citizens’ rights, warning that such conduct could undermine public confidence in law enforcement and revive memories of police brutality associated with the 2020 #EndSARS protests.

The association demanded an immediate and transparent investigation by the Inspector-General of Police, Tunji Disu, and the FCT Police Command, as well as disciplinary action against any police officers or VGN members found culpable.

It also demanded an apology to Ogwu, payment of his medical expenses and compensation for his damaged phone.

FICAN stressed that citizens have a constitutional right to document the activities of public officials, subject to the law, and warned against any attempt to revive SARS-style tactics.

“Journalism is not a crime,” the association said, reaffirming its commitment to protecting journalists’ right to work without intimidation, harassment or retaliation.