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Skit maker Debo Adedayo, popularly known as Mr Macaroni, has slammed the Nigerian Police Force after a video emerged showing an officer assaulting a man.
The man was reportedly on his way to church when a police officer assaulted him in Port Harcourt.
Reacting to the video, Debo, an activist, tweeted: “The Nigerian Police Force should change their name to Nigerian Oppression Force. They don’t know more than harassing, extorting and brutalizing citizens. Shame!!!”
Budding Nigerian recording artiste, T.I Blaze, real name Akintunde Abiodun Timilehin has taken to his social media platform to narrate his recent encounter with the Nigerian police.
T.I Blaze, one of the fast rising musicians in the country during the early hours of today, Thursday, April 14 revealed that he was threatened by police officers.
Blaze’s narration is coming after he broadcasted the moment he was being taken away by police officers on his Instagram live platform on Wednesday night.
In the video, the male voice who recorded the incident explained that the singer was physically assaulted and coerced to enter the vehicle.
The commentator also explained that the phone was taken away from him and it was smashed by officers.
Watch the video below.
Addressing the tempestuous moment, T.I Blaze in his post explained that the altercation with the police officers happened in Lagos State on Wednesday night.
“Lagos police,” Blaze wrote on his Instagram stories.
Findings indicated that the families of the missing police officers were anxious about the safety of their breadwinners following the N100m ransom demanded by the bandits.
The bandits holding six Assistant Superintendents of Police captive in Katsina State for over one week are demanding N100m ransom for their release.
The PUNCH reports that the ASPs were among the nine who were just promoted to their current rank. They were attached to the Mobile Police Squadron 6, Maiduguri, Borno State.
Findings on Wednesday indicated that they were demobilised from the riot unit and eight of them were on their way to the Zamfara State Police Command on the transfer when they were ambushed in the Dogondaji area of Katsina State and taken into the forest.
A reliable police source explained that the nine ASPs were planning to go to Zamfara State together, but one of them changed his mind at the last minute while the others embarked on the trip in a commercial bus.
On getting to Kano, the driver was said to have asked them to join another vehicle as his bus had developed a fault.
The source said, “When they were released to go to Zamfara, they scheduled a day for the trip from Maiduguri, but one of them said he wasn’t comfortable with the journey and declined to join them. He said he had something to do and promised to join them in Zamfara later.
“So, the eight others left, but on getting to Kano, the driver said he couldn’t continue the journey to Zamfara, because his vehicle had developed a fault. They joined another vehicle, and on their way around Dongodaji in Katsina State, the bandits accosted and kidnapped them.
“While being taken away, two of them escaped, and one of them was shot in the leg though he didn’t die. He found himself at a village, and the villagers took him to a police station, and he was taken to a hospital. The other six officers are still with the bandits who are demanding N100m ransom.”
A senior police officer said the Commander, Mopol 6, could not account for the men when asked about their abduction, adding that he referred inquiries on the missing men to the Zamfara State Police Command.
The officer explained that the standard procedure was for the commander to send a signal to the Zamfara command informing it that he had released the nine ASPs, but he allegedly failed to follow the official procedure.
The source stated, “The problem came from the Commander, Mopol 6, their former squadron leader, who released them on transfer to Zamfara. He was supposed to relay the information on the kidnap incident, but he said he didn’t know about it when he was asked; instead, he referred inquiries to the Zamfara State Police Command.
“The commander should have sent a signal that the men had been released to go to Zamfara, but he didn’t do that. Normally, the Zamfara command would send a signal to Borno confirming that the men had resumed.”
Findings indicated that the families of the missing police officers were anxious about the safety of their breadwinners following the N100m ransom demanded by the bandits.
It was learnt that the families were attempting to raise N3m for the release of the captives or N500,000 each.
The Force spokesman, DCP Frank Mba, had yet to respond to inquiries on the incident as he did not respond to calls and SMS sent to his mobile telephone as of the time of filing in this report.
When contacted by one of our correspondents, one of the officers, who escaped from the abductors, said he was too weak to recount the incident.
“I have high BP (blood pressure); I just came back from a check-up. I cannot remember everything now. The incident happened on Sunday along the Katsina-Gusau Road,” he said.
The Public Relations Officer, Borno State Police Command, DSP Edet Okon, said there was no reported case of policemen from the command being abducted, adding that the alleged victims were no longer serving at the command because they had been transferred.
“The Borno State Police Command has not received any signal in respect of her officers being abducted. The alleged abduction of officers is still unknown to us as we have yet to receive any alert on the matter. That is the official position of the command as of this moment,” Okon stated.
When Punch visited the Mopol 6 base in Maiduguri, he observed that police personnel were overwhelmed by the kidnap of their colleagues, which came weeks after some of their men were killed and several others injured during an attack on the convoy of the Borno State Governor, Prof. Babagana Zulum.
The mood in the barracks was very sober with little or no activity going on except for a few anti-riot policemen in uniform clustered in groups discussing the incident.
It was gathered that some personnel of the command were recently attacked at the Bama Local Government Area of the state and the latest development had dampened the morale of the policemen.
The PUNCH did not see women and children in the barracks except for a few at the market square. Except for the command headquarters, where some cops were sighted sitting under trees and in other strategic locations, the entire barracks, which houses a police training college, state police command and Mopol 6 base, was scanty.
A tragic incident was recorded in Benin, Edo state’s capital ,Nigeria on Friday October 9, as 7 members of a family died of food poisioning.
The Nation reported that the incident occurred at Number 4k0, Otete Street, off Textile Mill Road, Ogida Quarters, Benin, in Egor Local Government Area of Edo state.
Mrs Christy Igbinadolor whose apartment is opposite the house of the victims, said the corpses were discovered shortly after a man came to ask her about the victims while she was studying the Bible. She told him to knock on the door and report to a nearby police station if he gets no response.
After the man returned with the police and broke down the door, some of the victims were found dead while others who were unconscious were rushed to the Edo state government-owned Central Hospital Benin.
The head of the family said to be an evangelist who lost his pastor wife five days earlier (last Sunday), was not at home at the time of the incident but returned when alerted.
It was gathered that man’s children were the ones staying in the house. Among victims of the incident were two of the man’s children who stay elsewhere, but decided to return to Benin to mourn their late mother.
Few minutes ago, the president of Nigeria, President Muhammadu Buhari addressed the on going “END SARS” protest in Nigeria.
He stated the following;
“I met again with the IGP tonight. Our determination to reform the police should never be in doubt. I am being briefed regularly on the reform efforts ongoing to end police brutality and unethical conduct, and ensure that the Police are fully accountable to the people.”
“The IG already has my firm instructions to conclusively address the concerns of Nigerians regarding these excesses, & ensure erring personnel are brought to justice. I appeal for patience & calm, even as Nigerians freely exercise their right to peacefully make their views known.”
“The vast majority of men and women of the Nigeria Police Force are patriotic and committed to protecting the lives and livelihoods of Nigerians, and we will continue to support them to do their job.”
Following the recent outburst of Nigerian youths on Saturday to end SARS through the social media , it can be recalled that NairaMarley amongst other celebrities promised to lead a protest .
Many youths however anticipated the protest as NairaMarley revealed he would be leading the peaceful protest. As it stands now, Naira Marley has cancelled the protest.
