Citi FM reporter, cameraman assaulted by NIA staff

Citi FM’s Tema correspondent, Elvis Washington and his cameraman, Edward Twum were on Friday subjected to physical abuse by some officials of the National Identification Authority (NIA) at Mataheko, within the Ningo-Prampram district.

The officials were unhappy that the journalists were interviewing some frustrated applicants who were in a long queue at the Mataheko government school registration centre.

Narrating the ordeal, Elvis said when the team arrived at the centre after touring other centres to assess the processes, they noticed the long slow-paced queue and begun interviewing some persons to get their views about how they felt about the processes.

But “from nowhere, some of the workers of the NIA started assaulting my cameraman, asking him to stop filming,” Elvis Washington recounted.

He said another gentleman who appeared to be the security officer on duty immediately accosted him and prevented him from going closer to rescue the cameraman.

He said two women and two other men who he identified as NIA staff were those who perpetrated the assault against his cameraman.

The cameraman who was punched in the face was also left with bruises on his wrist as a result of his resistance to give the camera to his attackers who wanted to destroy it.

The process at the Mataheko government school registration centre has been fraught with allegations of bribery against the officials who some of the applicants accused of taking monies from some participants to skip the queue and register them for the card.

“As we speak, they are not working,” Elvis Washington further revealed after the incident.

An official complaint has been lodged at the Emefs Police station for further investigation and action.

Attack on journalists have heightened in Ghana in recent times.

The Media Foundation for West Africa’s records indicate that more than 62 incidents have been recorded in the country in the last four years.

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