Abia Passengers torture: Police detain, probe Errant officers

The Nigeria Police Force has arrested and detained some police operatives who were filmed assaulting some passengers in Abia State, Nigeria’s Southeast.

The police spokesperson in Abia State, Maureen Chinaka, disclosed this in a statement on Sunday.

It would be recalled that an X user, @BuddyJnrrr, narrated that some police operatives without name tags, on Saturday afternoon, flagged down a mini bus he and his brother had boarded.

“They ordered me to step down, which I peacefully did. Immediately, they collected another passenger’s phone and began interrogating him aggressively about what he does for a living,” he said in the X post on Saturday night.

The X user, who claimed to be a student of the Abia State University Uturu (ABSU), said one of the officers later asked him why he was using three phones which prompted him to explain to the officer that he bought the phones.

Instead of listening, they dragged me, my brother, and another passenger into a nearby bush and started harassing us for absolutely no reason.

“Before we knew what was happening, more officers joined them and they began beating us mercilessly like criminals, even though we were just students who came to ABSU to study and build our future,” he narrated.

“My brother and I sustained serious injuries during the assault. My ear is currently blocked, I can barely hear properly, and it has been bleeding because of the torture we faced in the hands of these officers. My phone screen also got broken.”

He uploaded on the microblogging platform a short video clip which showed one of the officers questioning him for possessing three mobile phones while attempting to confiscate the devices.

Possession of three mobile phones is not against any known law in Nigeria.

The X user said the encounter was one of the “most traumatising moments” in his life, adding that he was deeply pained by the constant threats allegedly made by the officers.