Police behind attack on us inside church, journalist cries out

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A journalist working with Sahara Reporters, Citizen Tosin, says men of the Nigeria Police attached to Sotitobire Miracle Centre, the church which was set ablaze on Wednesday over the missing one-year-old boy, Gold Kolawole whose corpse was rumoured to have been exhumed from the church altar, coordinated the attack on journalists who were on ground to cover the incident.

Recall that some irate youths had set on fire the church located at Oshinle Quarters, Akure, the Ondo State capital on Wednesday over the issue of the missing child. Two people reportedly died during the incident.

Baby Gold has been missing for over a month when his mother, Mrs. Modupe Kolawole dropped him at the church’s children department which subsequently led to the arrest of the founder of the church, Prophet Alfa Sotitobire by operatives of the Department of State Service, DSS, following a petition from Gold’s parents.

While giving a vivid account of the attack while carrying out their official duties, Citizen Tosin stated that the mob had planned to kill them under the watch of the police.

“I was caught in the web while trying to rescue a colleague, Temitope Adedeji, who is affiliated with the BBC, Lagos. He was being mobbed by the angry members of the church under the tense atmosphere when we had to quickly rush in and intervene.

“Myself, and Eniola Olurankise of the Breeze Fm 91.9 Fm Akure, were beaten mercilessly as the disgruntled Policemen, whose job is to protect us, stood guard coordinating the attack on us as journalists.

“The most disappointing of all was how these officers from the B Division Police Station, Oke Aro, Akure, also joined the church members in beating and assaulting us. They used planks, iron rods, and stones to “teach us the lessons of our life”, as one of them had loudly said while supervising the beating.

“The three of us were attacked, dehumanized as the cloths of Eniola from Breeze Fm was even torn into shred while one of the Policemen threatened to “waste” us on the spot if we dare run our mouths for attacking us. I witnessed armed Policemen shooting at the crowd like battling robbers in a gun duel.

“We were able to escape from the scene by whiskers after the beating even as one of the Policemen stole our phones but was later retrieved by a Civil Defence officer who watched the whole war on us from afar,” he said.

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