Attacks on journalists in Nigeria are becoming common. Photojournalist Tunde Ogundeji was beaten by a gang, popularly known as "area boys", while taking pictures of passengers travelling on the roofs of railway coaches.
Ogundeji, former photo editor of the Compass newspaper, was taken to hospital with head injuries. His attackers, who hit him with planks and bottles, were purportedly acting for the Nigerian Railway Corporation. Its management later retrieved Ogundeji's camera from the gang.
In a separate incident, a photojournalist with the Abuja-based daily newspaper Leadership, Benedict Uwalaka, was assaulted by mortuary staff at a Lagos hospital while covering the release of corpses of air crash victims.
He was taking pictures from a distance when four men attacked him from behind. His injuries were bad enough to warrant his being taken into intensive care in hospital.
The Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) has planned a protest over the attack on Uwalaka, and is preparing to take legal action against both the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital and TOS funeral services.
Sources: Leadership (1) and (2)/AllAfrica.com
