The police in Imo State say they’ve begun investigation right into a viral video displaying an officer assaulting a man alongside the Owerri–Orlu Road in the state.
The police spokesperson in the state, Henry Okoye, stated in a press release on Wednesday that the incident occurred on Tuesday.
The viral clip
The video clip, which has now gone viral on social media, confirmed the armed officer assaulting the sufferer whereas his fellow officers tried to restrain him.
The officer was subsequently seen making an attempt to cock his rifle whereas pointing it on the man.
The man, a motorist, later advised the officer’s colleagues that the officer stopped him to examine his car paperwork after which demanded “fuel money”, which he declined, prompting the officer to descend on him.
‘We’ve recognized the officer’
In Wednesday’s assertion, Mr Okoye, a deputy superintendent of police, stated the police in the state have recognized the officer as Gabriel Utuh, an assistant superintendent of police.
The spokesperson stated the officer was the group chief of the Rapid Response Squad patrol group deployed alongside the Owerri–Orlu Road in the state.
“The circumstances surrounding the incident are being thoroughly investigated, and appropriate disciplinary measures will be taken against any erring officer,” he stated.
Mr Okoye assured residents of Imo State that the investigation can be “thorough, impartial and guided by the principles of accountability and professionalism.”
He dropped a cell phone quantity and urged the sufferer to contact the Command’s Complaint Response Unit to help with the continued investigation.
The spokesperson stated the Commissioner of Police in Imo State, Audu Bosso, has reiterated the command’s zero tolerance for unprofessional conduct, abuse of authority, and violations of residents’ elementary rights.
The police chief additionally reaffirmed the command’s dedication to accountability, self-discipline, and professionalism.
Not the primary time
Cases of police brutality, extortion, extrajudicial killings and different unprofessional actions in Nigeria have continued regardless of sanctions by police authorities, corresponding to dismissal from service.
The newest incident occurred lower than three weeks after the police authorities ordered the arrest and detention of a police inspector and two personnel of the Imo State Civil Guard Corps over alleged extortion in the state.
Six months in the past, the police in Anambra State arrested and detained six senior officers who allegedly tortured and extorted N200,000 from a dealer in Onitsha, the industrial hub of the South-eastern state.
In February, three officers had been dismissed over alleged kidnapping, extorting N1.7 million and automotive snatching in Imo, one other state in the South-east.
Last January, police operatives shot dead a non-public motorcyclist in Ebonyi State.
In November 2024, police operatives from the Crack Squad in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, shot dead a labourer and critically injured three others in the state.
The same incident happened in the identical Abakaliki in 2018 when a police officer shot and killed a industrial motorcyclist for allegedly refusing to offer him a N50 bribe.
In August 2024, police operatives in Bayelsa State extorted N3 million from a Nigerian man at gunpoint.
The sufferer later petitioned police authorities, and the officers had been arrested.
The police operatives later returned the N3 million to the sufferer, about three weeks later.
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