Even as the dust raised by the debasing attacks on a Magistrate and two lawyers at a Magistrate Court in Umuneke, Ngor, Ngor Okpala Local Government Area of Imo State by policemen is yet to settle, the seeming violence against other professionals by operatives of the security agency has continued.
Another ugly side of the Nigeria Police was demonstrated at the Warehouse Junction, on the popular Assumpta Avenue in the heart of Owerri, the Imo State Capital when Mr Tunji Adedeji,a reporter with Trumpeta newspaper was mercilessly brutalized by woman police officer without any reason or justification for the attack.
It would be recalled that Members of the Nigeria Bar Association, NBA, Owerri on Monday embarked on a protest march to kick against the attack on the Magistrate and two lawyers.
The Policewoman whose name was given as Chinwe, said to be notorious in such acts and attached to Shell Camp police station ,Owerri, division at about 9am last Saturday, brutalized the reporter for simply saying no to her attempts to extort money from a motorist on Assumpta Avenue by Warehouse junction.
Comrade. Precious Nwadike,publisher of Community WatchDog newspaper who was on his way but noticed the incident came to his rescue was also assaulted by the police officer for trying to capture the police brutality against the reporter.
Narrating his ordeal, the reporter who is recovering from injury sustained as a result of the said the ugly incident offered that when a female police Corporal, was checking vehicles and it got to the turn of the BusImo, a popular state government painted mini bus he boarded from Amakohia ,Orlu road, the woman police attempted to act funny by allegedly demanding for money.
According to the reporter “The police officer stopped the BusImo driver and demanded the sum N100 from the driver who offered to give her N50, which she refused to collect, insisting on her #100 demand.
“The driver while pleading for the woman police to take the #50 said he was just resuming work for the day and he didn’t have enough money on him but the policewoman refused his appeal for mercy.
“I now appealed to her to let go because she was causing much traffic gridlock and all she could do was slam his baton on the side mirror. She went further to hit me with her baton before forcing me out of the bus in a very ruthless manner that caused me to sustain ankle injury. Unsatisfied with the level of attack, the police went further to hit me with the baton in a very reckless manner. It was in the process, that Comr .Precious Nwadike who was on another mission on the road noticed the brutality on me before he tried to capture the incident via camera before his phone was seized.
Explaining further what transpired, Adedeji said “The police woman swooped on me just for telling her to stop collecting #100 from commercial drivers, thereby causing gridlock for commuters.
‘She slapped me repeatedly, beat me up with her baton and seized Nwadike’s phone just for taking a photo of the scenario.
“Despite the fact that we never took time to disclose our identity as journalists, Nwadikes phone was still seized for more than three hours.
“We spent over three hours with her because she insisted she had reported the matter to their boss and that we should go there and make statement for the purported “crime”.
All effort made to reach the Commissioner of Police, CP, Dasuki Galadanchi proved abortive because as he refused to pick his call.
Attempts to also speak with the Police Public Relations Officer, Andrew Enwerem, SP, proved abortive. As at the time of this report, there is no official reaction from the Force headquarters over the incident.
Meanwhile, the management of Trumpeta newspapers has requested the State Command to as institute investigation into what transpired and call the rampaging officer to order. The newspaper is worried at the attitude of the likes of the said Chinwe, the woman police whose acts are not in conformity with the tenets of Police Acts.
