10 pastors attack journalist

olamide oni

November 18, 2015 9:01 AM

10 pastors have assaulted a journalist at a Federal High Court in Ibadan on Thursday, 12th November.

Journalist attacked in Ibadan courtroom

10 pastors have assaulted a journalist at the premises of a Federal High Court in Ibadan on Thursday, 12th November.

The journalist, who is a Photo Editor for Vanguard, was assaulted when he was trying to take a photo. The pastors were from one of the two factions of the Christ Apostolic Church in Ibadan.

The photojournalist, whose name was given as Mr. Dare Fasube, is reportedly still recovering from the trauma of the assault.

The church has been enmeshed in a leadership crisis for over two decades and the crisis has created two factions in the church. They are the General Executive Council and Supreme Council with each faction claiming ownership of the church. The Supreme Council had dragged the other faction to court over alleged forgery of some church documents.

Vanguard reported that the General Secretary of a faction, Pastor Gideon Okegwemeh, and former Director of Corporate Affairs Commission, Akeem Mohammed, were exiting the courtroom when Fasube attempted to take a shot of them with his camera. About 10 pastors from the church immediately got agitated over the picture-taking, and descended on Fasube.

The pastors began attacking him, and did not stop even when people around them tried to explain that he was a journalist doing his job. The assault continued until court officials were eventually able to intervene.

olamide oni