Personnel of the Nigerian Police, once again have displayed their inhumanity to members of the civil society.
On Thursday, a viral video surfaced where policemen with their patrol vehicle were seen using their patrol van to run over a man already in handcuff.
The incident occured at thr university town of Ekpoma in Esan West Local Government Area of the state.
This ugly incident threw the entire inhabitants of the area into confusion as they wonder why those charged with the responsibility of protecting the civilian society are the once treating them inhumanly.
The offence of the victim according to police source is that he was driving a car without registration number and when asked to produce the vehicle license, he became unruly.
Thereafter, he was Handcuffed. As if that was not enough, the Policemen dragged him to the front of their patrol vehicle, asked him to lie on the ground using the van to match and dragged him to some metres irrespective of shouting from members of the public.
A trending video of the incident which surfaced Friday, June 30, showed where a crowd gathered watching the handcuffed man on the floor at the front of the police vehicle, before the driver moved, crushing and dragging him on the ground for more than 100 meter, while ignoring shouts from the crowd.
The incident generated uproar from the crowd, who quickly dispersed after gunshots from the policemen.
Responding, the Spokesman of the Edo State Police Command, Mr. Chidi Nwabuzor in a press statement, said the policemen has been arrested and that Edo State Commissioner of Police, Mohammed Dankwara has called for calm.
The statement reads in part: “Edo State Police Command wishes to inform the general public that it’s aware of the trending video in the social media that shows some Police officers with a Sienna Vehicle used for patrol that ran over a young man who was handcuffed.
“The facts of the incident as gathered preliminarily indicates that on 29/06/2023 at about 1700hrs, ASP Magdalene Osayande reported at Ekpoma Divisional Police Headquarters, Ekpoma, Edo State that while on routine stop and search duty with her team of six (6) policemen along Ihumudumu Road, Ekpoma, Edo State, intercepted a driver of unregistered Lexus car and demanded for the vehicle particulars.”
The statement also said that, “along the line, the driver became aggressive and refused to oblige the request of the Police operatives, but rather attacked them, inflicted injuries on them, and destroyed Police vehicle.
“However, he was arrested, handcuffed, and identified as one Success Ehimare before the incident that is currently trending in social media occurred. He was later taken to Irrua Specialist Hospital for treatment, and he is in good health condition.
“In light of the above, CP Mohammed Adamu Dankwara has condemned the action of the policeman that he saw in the trending video, and he described it as barbaric, inhumane and unprofessional. He therefore gave a marching order to the Divisional Police Officer (DPO), Ekpoma to identify, arrest, and bring them to the State Police Headquarters Benin for brief and debrief. The officers had so been arrested, and they are with the State Criminal Investigation Department .”