Nigeria police arrest officer caught on camera brutalizing women in Lagos

The Lagos state Command of the Nigeria Police Force says Saturday it has arrested one of its officers caught on camera brutalizing women in Lagos.

“The officer has been arrested already and we have commenced investigation,” the spokesperson for the command, Ngozi Braid, told PREMIUM TIMES in a telephone interview. “He is in custody already.”

A video of the incident showing the officer, who was armed with an AK-47 rifle and brutalizing two women, began circulating on YouTube two days ago.

The video clip, published on Apr 18, 2014, showed the police officer, identified as Tafa Mohammed, trying to drown one of his victims in a muddy pond while a crowd watched.

The officer, apparently on guard at one of the banks in the area, had his rifle dangling from his shoulder as the drowning victim struggled under his grip.

The officer then pounced on the second victim whom the video showed intervening to rescue the first victim.

The clip, published by Sahara Reporters, showed the officer pointing his riffle at his victims before shooting into the air to create fear and disperse the crowd that was beginning to gather at the scene.

Sahara Reporters identified the police officer involved in the incident as Tafa Mohammed, who was on guard at Lewis Street, Lafiaji, in the Obalende area of Lagos Island during the incident.

Witnesses told the newspaper one of the victims angered Mr. Mohammed after she failed to give him a piece of fish from a pot of soup in her restaurant.

Witnesses claim the police officer was drunk, but PREMIUM TIMES is unable to independently confirm that.

An online crowdsourcing website, Nigeria Police Watch, which documents excesses by the Nigeria Police Force said similar intimidation and abuse of police powers are common within the force.

Watch the shocking video below.

 

This post is supported by the Nigeria Stability and Reconciliation Programme, funded by DFID and managed by a consortium led by the British Council