A brutal soldier, he stole $ 40,000 from me during a protest by the Plateau staff – A human rights activist’s story

Jerry Datim, a human rights activist, described how a soldier attacked him and stole $ 40,000 during a protest Monday by local government officials in Plateau State, PUNCH reported.

PUNCH reported that LG workers have protested the state government’s failure to meet the N30,000 minimum wage for the past three weeks.

Datim, deputy coordinator of Human Rights Watch and the State Rescue Operation, told PUNCH in Jos on Tuesday that he visited the State Secretariat in the course of his work, where offended LG employees met after hearing that “Joint Security Operation, which involved police and the army deployed in the secretariat attacked the protesting workers with tear gas.

Datim stated: “When I arrived, I saw that one of the workers, an old woman who had told me earlier that there were only six months left before retirement, was beaten by a soldier.

“The soldier hit her with an iron stick and she fell into the sewers. I went up to the soldier and begged him not to kill the woman, but the soldier turned and hit me with a rod.

“I immediately took out my identity card and showed it to the soldier. But he picked it up, broke it, and threw it away, saying that I was a criminal and they were looking for someone of my type to deal with.

“At that moment, another soldier who joined him put his hand in my pocket and took 40,000 N40 from me as they pushed me into one of their waiting trucks and drove away.”

The human rights activist, who said he reported this to Abuja police headquarters and the National Human Rights Commission, also described how he eventually returned to freedom.

He said: “In Kasua Nam Magistrates’ Court, we were charged with illegal protests against the government and blocking federal roads in the state. We pleaded not guilty to the charges after the judge they introduced us asked whether we were guilty or not. ”