SPECIAL REPORT: Lack of press tags makes Nigeria’s National Assembly complex unsafe

John Okafor, a parliamentary security officer, was on routine patrol at the National Assembly Arcade at about 5 p.m. sometime in June last year when he witnessed an unusual scene.

A Nigerian Army major-general, accompanied by military officers, was meting out punishments on three men, who appeared to be in their early 40s. The men were ordered to kneel, raise their hands, hold their ears, and perform frog jumps around the Arcade. The men, Mr Okafor later learned, were being punished for allegedly duping the military officer by disguising themselves as journalists covering the National Assembly.

They had reportedly collected money from the officer in May 2025 when he appeared before the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges, Code of Conduct and Public Petitions, promising to publicise the sitting.

The parliamentary officer could not keep the incident to himself. He went to the Senate Press Centre to brief accredited journalists, urging them to be vigilant and to strengthen their relationships with heads of ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) to ensure proper recognition of legitimate reporters.

Several journalists, including the Chairman of the Senate Press Corps, Taiye Odewale, listened as the officer narrated the incident.

Mr Okafor said he could not confirm the exact amount they collected from the general. When this PREMIUM TIMES reporter requested that the officer disclose the identity of the military officer, he declined, saying he did not want the officer portrayed in a bad light.

The parliamentary officer said the general waited for weeks to see himself on television and in newspapers, but nothing appeared. When he returned to the Senate a month later for the same case, the three men approached him again, seeking more money for publicity.

Since he had discovered they were impostors, th