Six Police officers arrested for brutalising man in viral video

Six Police officers arrested for brutalising man in viral video

Six policemen seen in a viral video allegedly brutalising a man on the outskirts of Port Harcourt have been apprehended by operatives of the Rivers State Police Command.

The spokesperson for the command, Grace Iringe-Koko, confirmed the arrests, stating that the officers are in detention and will face an orderly room trial.

In the disturbing video, the victim is seen with blood dripping from his head. He recounted the harrowing incident to reporters, explaining that the officers had stopped him and demanded his vehicle’s tinted permit. He told them he had been experiencing delays with the renewal process at the relevant government agency.

The man claimed the officers ignored his explanation and proceeded to assault him, his brother, and a female companion, all while labeling them criminals. He painfully recounted what happened. “They (the policemen) are taking my vehicle to the station for no reason. They said we are criminals. The girl who was with us was well beaten and stripped,” he said.

He further alleged that the officers demanded money from him. “They said I should give them N1m because I didn’t have a tinted permit. I told them I didn’t have that kind of money and that I had gone to the Internal Revenue Service, but was told their machine was bad.”

“I begged that I had N20,000 to give to them. My brother, who was with me, was slapped by them, and he fell. They dragged me, and I asked them what my offence was. Before I knew it, they hit me on my head. I fell and was covered in blood all over my body,” he explained.

Iringe-Koko stated that the Commissioner of Police, Olugbenga Adepoju, had personally interrogated both the victim and the officers involved. Following the interrogation, the CP ordered the detention of the officers and instructed his monitoring team to conduct a thorough investigation into the matter. “The six policemen and the victim came to the CP and said their sides of the story,” she said. “The CP then ordered the detention of the six policemen and that they should be tried.”