Executive Director of the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), Sulemana Braimah, has urgently called for the criminal prosecution of military personnel who assaulted JoyNews journalist Carlos Calony while covering the demolition of a warehouse owned by businessman Daniel McKorley, popularly known as McDan.
Mr Braimah’s demand follows Calony’s detailed account, exposing the brutal and unprovoked attack.
Mr Calony recounted how, while interviewing an eyewitness at the demolition site, military personnel suddenly stormed the area, interrupting his work.
Despite clearly identifying himself and his crew as journalists, a military personnel struck him twice in the neck from behind, nearly causing him to collapse.
Following the assault, Calony was forcibly detained alongside the CEO of McDan and three others and then taken to the National Security Headquarters, where their phones were confiscated and searched—raising serious concerns about press intimidation.
Speaking on Joy FM on Thursday, July 31, Mr Braimah strongly condemned the assault as a flagrant abuse of power and demanded justice:
“We are in a country where for some people, assault is okay, and for others it’s a crime. What happened yesterday in terms of punching an innocent journalist who was basically trying to do his job, I don’t think that we can say it’s not criminal.”
He warned that excusing such behaviour threatens the very fabric of society, saying, “Are we saying that people can just go about punching others because they have power or because they feel they are stronger than others? We will then be having a more chaotic society.”
Read Also: JOYNEWS condemns assault and detention of reporter Carlos Calony by operatives in military uniform.
Mr Braimah further stressed the true role of the military, saying, “I don’t think that our military is trained to abuse civilians, to attack people and punch them anyhow — unless we have been told that that is now part of the training. If that is not the case, and the military is trained to protect the territorial integrity of our country, then this should be seen as a criminal act, for which there should be persecution.”
Reflecting on similar past abuses, he added, “What did we see with the policeman who assaulted a journalist during the Ablekuma North rerun? Wasn’t there an interdiction? A real interdiction, not by a statement, and yet the officer is at post. At least it will send the signal to others that, look, ‘you don’t go out there and misbehave because the state has provided you a uniform and trained you and given you a weapon to misbehave.’”
Read Also: JoyNews reporter assault: Gov’t orders investigation, condemns attack.
He concluded with a strong call for accountability and deterrence: “The least is for signals to be sent, to serve as a deterrent to others.”
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