Some officials of the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) on Wednesday attacked a journalist with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Joy Odigie, calling her a “stupid albino”.
Odigie visited the service’s Edo Command to question its Public Relations Officer, Ake Kenneth, on the reported break-in at the command’s offices.
A source told NAN that the offices attacked included the Border Unit, the Technical Department and the National Identification Number (NIN).
It was revealed that some gangsters damaged electrical cables and equipment in the offices over the weekend and stole some items, including money kept in a safe.
The source said one of the perpetrators was arrested by some officers on duty on Monday.
But when the journalist visited the command, the officers present questioned her mission at the command.
“I was walking past the security guards outside the office when I heard some officers saying ‘Excuse me, excuse me.’
“I was already on the stairs, but when I realized that I was the person called, I came down the stairs.
“I told them that I was a journalist and wanted to speak to the prosecutor and one of them replied that he knew I was a journalist and started shouting that he wanted to search me because I might have a bomb with me.
“I told him that since he knew I was a journalist, he should allow me to go to the PRO instead of embarrassing me.
“He told me to meet with an officer who would explain things to me. As things got more and more awkward, I told him I would not meet the officer.
“Meanwhile, more officers arrived at the scene and one officer said, ‘Oga is calling you’ and I asked for the Oga’s name.
“Surprisingly, the lady replied: ‘You don’t respect my Oga, you are that stupid albino,’ a derogatory and discriminatory word for people with albinism,” Odigie said.
When the journalist told the police officer that the word was stupid, other police officers reportedly attacked her and confiscated her belongings.
“One of the officers with a gun grabbed my arm and dragged me out of the office. The umbrella I was holding fell out of my hand and was picked up by an officer.
“I left the office and called the PRO of the service, who came to my aid and asked him to give me back my umbrella,” said Odigie, visibly alarmed.
When contacted, the command’s public relations officer apologized and said he had told the journalist the same thing.
