The situation escalated as additional thugs arrived and began physically assaulting the Asaba correspondents of The Punch and Guardian newspapers.
An investigative journalist in Delta State, Prince Amour Udemude, and Asaba correspondents of The PUNCH Newspapers, Matthew Ochei and Monday Osayande were attacked by thugs suspected to have been hired by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Trouble started when suspected hired PDP thugs stormed the popular Inter-Bua roundabout in Asaba, capital of Delta State, which is the venue of the #EndBadGovernance protest, and started harassing journalists and protesters.
While the anti-protest thugs were assaulting a protester, their leader noticed Amour recording the incident and quickly grabbed him by his jeans, prompting other thugs to join in and manhandle the investigative journalist, demanding that he hand over his phone.
The situation escalated as additional thugs arrived and began physically assaulting the Asaba correspondents of The Punch and Guardian newspapers.
Meanwhile, heavily armed police personnel from the Delta State Police Command in Asaba stood by and did nothing to intervene. Just as the situation seemed to be spiraling out of control, an Army personnel intervened, rescuing Amour and two other journalists from the chaos and escorting them away from the scene.
According to sources, the Delta state government allegedly offered bribes to various groups, including youth organizations, student bodies, and religious entities, to dissuade them from participating in the protest and to prevent pro-protesters from taking action across the state. As of the time of this report, efforts to recover Amour's phone from the thugs have been unsuccessful.