#RevolutionNow: Journalist arrested in Calabar, security operatives stop protest in Osun, Lagos

Correspondent of The Nation in Calabar, Cross River State, Mr Nicholas Kalu, was on Monday arrested at the Cultural Centre, Calabar, venue of the #RevolutionNow protest in the South-South state.
Kalu was arrested with some members of the African Action Congress (AAC) and taken to the State Police Command Headquarters at Diamond Hill in Calabar.
Speaking on the arrest, Chairman, Nigerian Union of Journalist (NUJ), Mr Victor Udu, condemned the arrest and called for the immediate release of the journalist.
“I condemn the act totally, the journalist was just doing his job, he did not go there with any weapon; we call for his immediate and unconditional release,” Udu said.
Similarly, a human right lawyer, James Ibor, said the arrest of the journalist was regrettable and uncalled for.
“The arrest of a journalist who went to scout for information to brief the public is condemnable and it is a way of ensuring that not just the public is gagged, but the press also,” Ibor said.
In his reaction, the Commissioner of Police in the state, CP Austin Agbonlahor, said that all the people arrested in relation to the protest are in police custody.
He said they would undergo interrogations to reveal who is a journalist and who is not.
Meanwhile, armed policemen and Department of State Security (DSS) operatives, on Monday, stopped members of #RevolutionNow group from protesting in Osogbo, Osun State.
The protesters, led by one Olawale Adebayo, had arrived the popular Olaiya Junction to address newsmen on the reason for the protest.
The protesters, who had mobilised no fewer than 30 persons, were halted by the DSS and police personnel who arrived the scene.
The operatives asked the protesters to disperse but were rebuffed by a group of youths numbering no fewer than 30 and decked in orange berets and handkerchiefs.
The youths stood their ground and sang protest songs.
At this point, the security team threw tear gas at the crowd which eventually dispersed them.
Also, security agents aborted the planned #RevolutionNow protest in Lagos, by dispersing the protesters in front of the National Stadium, Surulere, with tear-gas.
Security agencies, including the army, civil defence, and the police, had stationed at the stadium entrances restricting everyone, including workers from entering.
After barricading of the stadium, this action forced the protesters numbering about 50 to gather under the stadium bridge, singing and requesting the police to let them into the stadium.
The police subsequently requested for reinforcement and five patrol vans filled with heavily armed mobile policemen surfaced.
Tear gas were fired and passersby and the protesters ran for safety.
Normalcy was later restored at the scene.