A journalist with thegazellenews.com and The GazelleTV, Daniel Oluwatobiloba Popoola, narrowly escaped being lynched by an angry mob in Inisa, Osun State, after he was accosted, slapped and dispossessed of his phone by youths and policemen while covering the state’s Saturday, 8 August, 2026, governorship election.
Popoola disclosed this in an account of his experience, explaining that he and his media team had travelled from Lagos to Osogbo ahead of the election to carry out their constitutional duty as members of the fourth estate of the realm.
He said the team woke up early on election day to monitor voting at some polling units in Ogooluwa, Osogbo, checking the number of accredited voters and documenting the opinions of electorate members based on materials presented by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
From Osogbo, the team proceeded to Inisa, a town in the Odo-Otin Local Government Area of Osun State, known as a trading centre for cocoa and other agricultural produce grown within the region.
Narrating his experience, Popoola said he observed the enthusiasm of residents in the community, many of whom turned out early in large numbers to exercise their constitutional rights.
He explained that, in the course of performing his duty, he took photographs of voters casting their ballots and made notes of observations from the electioneering process, only for the situation to turn hostile without warning.
According to him, some policemen and youths within the community suddenly confronted him, demanding to know who had authorised him to capture the electioneering process, despite his visible identification as an INEC-accredited journalist.
He said he was manhandled like a criminal, slapped, and his phone seized by the president of the Inisa Youths, who pressured him to delete every picture he had taken.
“I was pushed by some policemen and youth within the community, insisting who gave me the right to capture the electioneering process, despite seeing INEC-accredited Media. I was rough-handled like a criminal, slapped, and my phone was seized by the President of the youth of Inisa, Osun State, pressuring me to delete all the pictures I took,” he said.
Popoola disclosed that the situation could have escalated into a lynching had it not been for the timely intervention of the Publisher of The Gazelle’News, Mr Musbau Razak, who came to his rescue.
“Thank God for my boss, Mr Musbau Razak, who is Publisher of The Gazelle’News, who came to my rescue. I would have been lynched secretly,” he said.
He explained that it took several hours and the intervention of prominent members of the Inisa community before his seized phone was eventually returned to him.
Upon inspection, he discovered that some of the pictures he had taken had already been deleted by the youth leader who confiscated the device.
Following the ordeal, Popoola said he and his team moved away from where the villagers had gathered before eventually departing Inisa altogether.
The incident occurred during the 2026 Osun State governorship election, held on Saturday, 8 August, 2026, an exercise that was trailed by reports of violence and attacks on political actors, party members and journalists in several parts of the state before and during the polls.
