By Jide Babalola
I just experienced such at the National Assembly of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in Abuja. About nine of us were in a public elevator (NOT the ones specially meant for Honourable members) and being very conscious of others’ spaces, it was a shock to hear angry outbursts coming from someone who was sideways and behind me.
Although I later got to know that she is a member of the House, I was taken aback that the Honourable member was part of what became a crowded elevator and briefly gave me anxieties in view of a n encounter with Covid-19 in August 2020.
From the third floor, we rode the elevator downstairs and the really aggressive outbursts only increased till she drew the attention of some visiting officials, one of whom insisted that I apologize to calm things down.
Without being guilty, I apologized and someone close by pleaded with her “in the name of God” but Honourable Sadipe insisted that she was rejecting all apologies. She followed me towards the exit and called on security agents to “hold him until I return”.
Where she was going to in the city or what time she was coming back was not known to anyone!Presently, I have been released on bail by the National Assembly police and as I have been told, I may be ‘invited’ anytime soon.
I tried all efforts to dissuade my journalist colleagues from writing about my little experience but the inconsiderate lies and misinformation that greeted me after leaving the police unit necessitate some bit of response.
Without being immodest, as a Chief Correspondent with Chief MKO Abiola’s Concord newspapers in Kaduna during the ‘90s, I was one of those foot soldiers who risked lives and liberty in the struggle for restoration of democracy in Nigeria.
For some of us, just one encounter like the one I had on Thursday at the House of Representatives in Abuja becomes a forceful reason to reassess what we fought for with such intense youthful idealism.
Without doubt, a government official’s verbal directive to security agents: “Go and hold him till I return” does not sound comforting in any way.
Arbitrary use of coercive authority is directly in conflict against the tenets of democracy or the rule of law!
Few hours after losing my freedom, I learnt from a fellow journalist that what I am being accused of by Honourable Tolulope Shadipe is ‘gender bias and discrimination’!
A message said to be from her reads thus:”Morning this is a case of Gender harassment. He got into the elevator after me. I was talking to a staff of nass.
All I said to him was Please don’t Step back and he turned on me. intimidating me. Because I am a woman. This is a case of Gender bias and gender intimidation.
“Would he do the same with a male member of the house. I had my ID on”.
