The brutality of youths of Imo State by the officers of Nigeria Police Force has continued unabated as a team of policemen smacked two youths with a cutlass in Owerri, the Imo State capital.
The incident is coming about two days after the police arraigned an officer who allegedly killed a man in Delta State over his refusal to give N100 bribe.
According to a video that has gone viral on social media, the armed police officers were filmed using a machete to smack two unidentified people in Imo State.
The clip of the incident which is being circulated on Twitter underscores the unending issue of police brutality in Nigeria after the 2020 historic endsars protests which led to the scrapping of a notorious police unit, according to Premium Times.
In the 45 seconds clip, five officers are seen assaulting the two people in an open space while a sixth officer pulled out a machete from a parked SUV believed to be a police operational vehicle.
The sixth officer is captured in the video, smacking the two people multiple times with the machete.
Apart from the assault incident, the neighbourhood looks calm.
From the background remarks, apparently made by people who were secretly recording the assault, it appeared the incident happened in Owerri, Imo State.
The exact location and date of the incident is, however, unclear for now.
“Which kind country be dis?” said a background voice in the video.
“Omo, see as him dey cut-am with cutlass! Which kind nonsense be dis?
“See wetin police dey do for Owerri”.
A Twitter user who posted the video on 20 April on the microblogging site said the victims are students of the Imo State University who refused to allow the officers search their phone.
The police spokesperson in Imo State, Henry Okoye commented under the Twitter post, saying the officers’ behaviour was “totally unacceptable”.
He published his telephone number and asked the victims to contact him.
“Imo Police Command is aware of this obscene video and we are currently investigating to identify the team of officers,” Mr Okoye, an assistant superintendent of police, said.
The incident is coming about two days after the police arraigned an officer who allegedly killed a man in Delta State over his refusal to give N100 bribe.
The police also recently demoted an officer who was filmed slapping a motorist in Rivers State.
The incident, Community Reporters learned, is one out of several cases of police brutality in Imo State.
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