The Police Force Public Relations Officer, CSP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, has warned citizens against assaulting Nigeria Police personnel on duty even if the latter is the aggressor. He said policemen are always protected against attacks by law.
“Even if a policeman on uniform slaps a civilian, the civilian has no right to retaliate. More so, if he’s on uniform, it’s an act of disrespect to Nigeria to beat an officer on uniform,” Mr. Adejobi said. “The disrespect is not to the policeman but to our nation and it’s a crime as enshrined in our criminal laws.”
In a series of tweets he made on Saturday in reaction to a viral video showing two men wrestling down a gun-wielding police officer in a heated argument, the Force PRO advised any such victim of Police brutality to rather file a complaint with the law enforcement agency
“So it’s not a case of what the policeman did, that led to it, but the reaction of the civilians who actually assaulted the police. If police assault a civilian, u report and actions will be taken to rebuke him, not to take the law into ur hands. Let alone its a matter of checking of phones, which can be easily reported and addressed”
“Now they are kept in our 5-star hotel in Lagos and will be in court on Mon. Are you going to visit them or send them food, or appear in court to defend them? Don’t support what is bad, ok.”
The tweets came under heavy criticism from Nigerians who took to their Twitter handles to lament the unprofessionalism of the police force, especially the way they usually handle civilians.
