Female Tricycle Rider Assaulted, Brutalised By Nigerian Police Team Over N100 Bribe In Lagos.
Some personnel of the Nigeria Police Force attached to Area N Division at Ijede Area Council of Lagos State, Southwest Nigeria, have reportedly assaulted and brutalized a female tricycle rider.
The victim identified as Joy Ivie Aghama and her friend Mofoluwaso Hannah Fowokan were brutalized by the police officers for allegedly refusing to part with a bribe of N100.
SaharaReporters learned that the incident took place at a place called Mahmud in the Ijede part of Ikorodu on Monday evening.
Narrating her ordeal at the hands of the policemen in a video shared by the Take It Back Movement on its Twitter handle, Aghama said, “Nigerians come to my aid. Yesterday, I was at work all through from around 7 am and closed around 7 pm.
“On my way home, I picked one of my friends that said I should help her since we are living in the same compound. On our way to Ijege, we got to Mahmud, we saw some policemen at the junction and they stopped us. I stopped and they said ‘money’ and I said which money, money for what? They said, ‘Okay park, your Keke (tricycle) is going to the station.’
“I asked what’s the problem, what is going on? They said ‘bring your particulars’ and I was trying to call someone from home to bring them for me. Even someone was already bringing the particulars for me. I was waiting for the person. They delayed me from 7:15 pm till after 8 to 9 pm. I asked them what is my offense. What did I do? Nigerians. see me see the police.
“I called someone and I gave the man (police team leader) the phone but he said he didn’t care who the person was, that he had to take this Keke to the station. I said what was my offense? What did I do? I was still sitting down inside the Keke, they said I should come down around 8 in the night.
“I called the Divisional Police Officer of Ijede Area N but her phone was switched off. I called Inspector Richard from Ikeja also, but his line did not connect. When it connected, he said I should go to Ijede, that he was coming there. After that, I couldn’t reach him again before they broke my windscreen.
“I was sitting down inside the Keke, one policeman said since I couldn’t bring the money, he was taking the Keke to the station. I asked again what is my offense, that since they demanded particulars of the Keke, they should wait, and that I had called the people that were bringing it. The one that led them said one of them should enter and drive the Keke to the station.”
“When he entered the Keke and started it, he said I should go down and I said for what? Wait for the people that you asked me to call to bring the documents and he pulled my hair and hit it on the windscreen and dragged me out and started dragging me on the road. I was peeled, all my body was peeled and they tore my clothes,” she added.
The Take It Back Movement @TIBmovement has condemned the action of the policemen who allegedly brutalised the young woman who was trying to fend herself.
The group which took to its Twitter handle to condemn the police brutality wrote: “It’s been brought to our attention that @PoliceNG officers attached to Area N at Ijede assaulted and brutalized one Joy Ivie Agama, a female Keke NAPEP rider for failing to pay a bribe.
“This is an innocent woman struggling to make ends meet in the already harsh Nigerian economy. We condemn this as unacceptable and demand that all officers involved be brought to book.”
Meanwhile, the Nigeria Police Complaint Response Unit (NPF-CRU) said it had received the complaint.
The CRU wrote in response, “Your complaint is hereby acknowledged and an investigation has been initiated. Your tracking number is #CRU338533. Kindly forward your contact number via DM to ease communication.
“Thank you for contacting NPF-CRU.”
Source | Saharareporters