Some police operatives have been filmed assaulting a bus driver in Enugu State, South-east Nigeria.
The yet-to-be-identified driver was conveying some students of a missionary school to an undisclosed location when he was stopped at a checkpoint by the operatives, PREMIUM TIMES gathered.
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The exact date the incident happened is unclear, but a video clip showing the operatives assaulting the driver was uploaded on Sunday.
An X user, (@spoiltkid) who uploaded the video clip said the operatives beat up the driver for failing to give them a N100 bribe at the checkpoint.
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“Nigeria Police Force personnel captured on Camera brutalising driver of Christian girls in training over N100 (bribe) in Enugu,” the X user wrote.
The viral video clip
In the four-minute clip which has now gone viral, the operatives were seen shouting at the driver while some of the passengers pleaded for calm.
“What’s the problem? You were seated and I greeted you people as I passed,” the driver said to the operatives in pidgin English, apparently trying to understand what offence he may have committed.
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“I slowed down and waved at them.”
“Are you mad?” One of the operatives asked him.
Some passengers in the vehicle expressed surprise over the action of the operatives.
“These people want money,” one of the passengers said of the operatives.
“Let’s see your vehicle papers,” one of the operatives ordered the driver in pidgin English.
He consequently pulled out a nylon and gave his vehicle licence to the operatives.
Some of the operatives were later seen in the clip heavily kicking and hitting the driver who unsuccessfully tried to defend himself.
About three operatives subsequently dragged the assaulted driver away from the checkpoint.
‘Produce the officers immediately’
Reacting to the incident on his X handle on Monday, the spokesperson of the Nigeria Police Force, Muyiwa Adejobi, condemned the incident.
“This is not acceptable,” he said of the incident.
Mr Adejobi, an assistant commissioner of police, asked the Enugu State Police Command to produce the officers immediately.
“Enugu State Police Command, produce these men immediately for necessary action,” he ordered.
“Noted. Action underway already, please,” authorities of the State Police Command responded via their official X handle.
When contacted on Tuesday morning, the police spokesperson in Enugu State, Daniel Ndukwe, told PREMIUM TIMES that the police were still on the matter.
When asked if the officers had been identified, Mr Ndukwe, a deputy superintendent of police, said he would make details of the matter public after their investigation.
“We can’t give half information. Just await for our final report on that,” he said.
Background
There are frequent cases of police harassment and brutality Nigeria.
In October 2020, Nigerian youths protested against police brutality across the country and called for disbandment of the now defunct Special Anti-Robbery Unit (SARS) of the police.
Despite the ban on SARS, the cases of police brutality have persisted across the country.
Six officers, for instance, were caught in a viral video, in April 2023, using a machete to smack two unidentified people in Imo State.
The police in the state would later begin an ‘orderly room trial’ of the officers.
In September last year, four police officers were arrested for allegedly assaulting a traveller in Rivers State.
Days after, a young man accused some officers in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, of allegedly kidnapping, locking him up in a police cell and forcing him to pay a sum of money before being released.
The police in the state subsequently arrested the officers who allegedly carried out the act.
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