Police foils ex-P.M.NEWS/TheNEWS Staff planned protest

Police on Wednesday morning stopped the planned protest by the sacked staff of the Independent Communications Network Limited (ICNL), publishers of TheNEWS magazine and the online platform, P.M.NEWS.

The heavy presence of armed Police from Area G, Ogba was felt early in the morning around the Acme Road office of ICNL whose Managing Director, Mr. Bayo Onanuga was recently appointed is expected to resume work.

The new Managing Director was an ex-staff of the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN.

The protesters, many of whom were laid off over a year ago are being owed between eight and ten months, complained of hardship in the face of the current economic realities in the country.

Many of them now live in the outskirts of Lagos and Ogun States said that the protest was shelved because they did not want to be manhandled by the fierce-looking armed policemen who had been patrolling the area since the early hours of Wednesday morning.

A security man who gave his name as Harrison was manhandled and almost whisked away by policemen while the would-be protesters watch from a distance.