WHILE the government urges its officials to collaborate with journalists, Dickson Ng’hily, business editor and head of ‘The Guardian’ digital department has lately encountered an entirely different scenario.

He was apprehended, assaulted and detained for nearly six hours for documenting primary school pupils studying under tree shade.

He disclosed information regarding the ordeal to the newspaper shortly after his release, pursuant to the order of the Ubungo district commissioner, Hassan Bomboko.

As part of his daily routine, Ng'hily ventured to Kwembe primary school at Kwembe ward, only to discover pupils engaging in their studies underneath nearby trees instead of classrooms.

Surprised by the scene unfolding before him, he felt compelled to record this snapshot of resourcefulness. Regrettably, during the photo session, one of the teachers spotted him and whispered to her colleague, "There goes your guest, snapping away.” 

One teacher trailed closely behind him, insisting on seeing evidence of authorization for photographing the scene, at which the reporter responded by showing his identity as a journalist, presenting his press credentials.

During this exchange, other teachers converged on the scene, drawing curious pupils into a growing circle of amazed onlookers and shouting at staff members.

Events escalated swiftly against the reporter as school authorities and colleagues seized both his phone and identification, adding to the rough handling. A staff member struck out on the reporter’s back using a stick as if caning a pupil.

The pupils were being drawn to their teachers’ side, laying hands on Ng'hily and managing to pin him down, while someone made away with his mobile device.

The turn of events was distressing, with an initial fellow he confronted happened to be the head teacher, leading the assault with grabbing of ID, while a second individual seized the phone from the reporter’s grasp using substantial force, the reporter narrated to colleagues back in office, hours after the incident.

Pupils were getting excited, starting to savage the reporter as if he were a thief, whereupon the head teacher, sort of coming to his senses, intervened and stopped them from proceeding with ‘mob justice.’

He was then taken to the local government office, where officers harped on the charge that he was wrong in taking those photos, which he adamantly refused to accept.

Afterwards, at approximately one o'clock in the afternoon, Ng'hily was escorted to the office of the DC, with whom he had audience and DC Bomboko decided that the reporter should be released, “but the photos needed to be deleted.”

The District Administrative Secretary (DAS), contacted an assistant to the DC, who then handed the phone to him. The DAS explained that the DC had ordered his release on the condition that he deletes the pictures from the phone.

“Not wanting to prolong the situation, I agreed. Then the Kwembe executive officer took my phone and deleted the photos from the gallery and recycle bin. He even searched through Google, but no trace of the pictures was found," he elaborated.

Following his detention, the writer was released at around 4 pm.

Prior to this, officials at The Guardian Ltd had promptly reached out to DC Bomboko, who facilitated the release of the reporter. Additionally, other media stakeholders such as the Tanzania Human Rights Defenders Coalition (THRDC) had issued a statement asking for the reporter's immediate release.