Nicolas Négoce and Jacob Compaoré, reporter and cameraman respectively of Vox Africa, a Pan African TV station, were in the afternoon of February 18, 2011 assaulted by security guards of Petroci hydrocarbon station in Cocody, a suburb of Abidjan, the capital of Cote d’Ivoire.
The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA)’s correspondent reported that the guards seized the camera belonging to the crew and prevented them from filming a group of protesting women who had gathered in front of the station in search of butane gas which is in short supply in the country.
The correspondent said the security guards, who described Vox Africa as a “pirate station”, said Vox Africa had no right to film the gas station without the permission of the management.
The camera was given back to the journalists following the intervention of Ahoua Don Mello, a spokesman of the Gbagbo government.
