Police Parades 6 Officers In Viral Video Assaulting Two Men
The Police Command in Owerri, Imo State have begun an ‘orderly room trial’ of six officers caught in a viral video using a machete to smack two unidentified men in the state.
The Nigeria Police Public Relations Officer, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, disclosed this in a Twitter post on Tuesday.
In a viral video which is about 45 seconds clip, five officers are seen assaulting the two people in an open space while a sixth officer pulled out a machete from a parked SUV believed to be a police operational vehicle.
The sixth officer is captured in the video, smacking the two people multiple times with the machete.
Apart from the assault incident, the neighbourhood looks calm.
From the background remarks, apparently made by people who were secretly recording the assault, it appeared the incident happened in Owerri, the Imo State capital.
The exact location and date of the incident are, however, unclear for now.
“Which kind country be dis?” said a background voice in the video.
“Omo, see as him dey cut-am with cutlass! Which kind nonsense be dis?
“See wetin police dey do for Owerri”.
A Twitter user who posted the video on 20 April said the victims are students of the Imo State University who refused to allow the officers to search their phones.
The police spokesperson in Imo State, Henry Okoye commented on the Twitter post, saying the officers’ behaviour was “totally unacceptable”.
He published his telephone number and asked the victims to contact him.
“Imo Police Command is aware of this obscene video and we are currently investigating to identify the team of officers,” Mr Okoye, an assistant superintendent of police, said.
Orderly room trial
Mr Adejobi, a chief superintendent of police, identified the officers as, Sunday Amadi (an inspector and team leader), Charles Amajuoji, an inspector, and Chinese Noachian, a sergeant.
Others are Emmanuel Onwuka, another sergeant, Goodness Nzewuodo, a corporal, and Emmanuel Chimezie, a police constable.
The force spokesperson, who attached a photo of the officers and the video clip of the incident in the Twitter post, wrongly suggested that only one man was being assaulted by the officers.
“The Imo State Police has commenced the orderly room trial of the policemen who were caught in a video flogging and assaulting a man in Imo State recently,” he wrote.
But the clip showed that two unidentified people – one in orange shorts and another in light green shorts – were assaulted by the officers.
The assault on the two unidentified people came about two days after the police arraigned an officer who allegedly killed a man in Delta State, over his refusal to give N100 bribe.
The police also recently demoted an officer who was filmed slapping a motorist in Rivers State.