Thugs Attack Newspaper Readers At Newsstand For Criticising Aregbesola

Some hoodlums invaded a newsstand on Thursday in Osogbo and beat up readers found there for criticizing Governor Rauf Aregbesola administration.

It was reported that the readers were at a newsstand opposite the old Governor’s Office and were discussing the issue when the hoodlums stormed the place and attacked them.

Another side of the report revealed that the newsstand had been an hot spot for both supporters of APC and PDP where they always engaged themselves in hot argument in favour and against government.


The owner of the newspapeer stand, who identified himself as 'Sherif' said:

“A spy sent by the hoodlums came here and said he wanted to buy a newspaper. We asked him which of the newspapers, but he said anyone. Suddenly, some thugs invaded this place. Some readers and I saw them on time and fled.

But they manhandled others, who could not escape. The thugs beat them up mercilessly. They tore all my newspapers and destroyed the stand.”

One of the victims of the victims, Olufemi Fadeyi, said the hoodlums came while the readers were engrossed in the argument for and against the governor over the nonpayment of workers’ salaries.

He stated that majority of the readers were criticizing the governor for not paying workers’ salaries and one of them stepped aside and made a telephone call.

Fadeyi said some minutes after, the hoodlums stormed the newsstand and started attacking those found there. He said:

“The hoodlums were armed. They rounded us up, but some escaped. They beat those caught and destroyed the stand.”

The Chairman of Newspapers Distributor Association in Osun State, Alhaji Muhammed Azeez Olaiya who visited the scene of the incident said the association was not happy over the development and lamented that people could no longer expressed themselves freely in the state.