The motorcyclist identified as Al-Hassan Usman, who was brutalised by some officers of the Abattoir Police Area G Station of the Lagos State Police Command, has lamented his inability to move one of his swollen hands.
SaharaReporters earlier reported video footage that surfaced on the internet showing how three police officers pushed down the motorcyclist, physically assaulted him and broke his head before running away with his motorcycle.
The incident happened on Friday at Oja Oba, Ogundele Street, close to Abule Egba Under-bridge in Lagos, southwest Nigeria.
WATCH: @PoliceNG Officers Brutally Assaulting Bikeman With Iron Rods In Abule Egba Area Of Lagos pic.twitter.com/CUxZRGN1HC
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From the content of the video, after pushing the motorcyclist down, one of the police officers held him while another one hastened to run away with the motorcycle but the victim struggled with the policeman holding him.
And as he rushed to retrieve his motorcycle from the police officer who eventually sped off with it, the third officer attacked him with what looked like a motorcycle exhaust pipe, during which he broke the victim’s head.
Thereafter, the officers quickly jumped into a waiting tricycle (Keke Napep) and sped off as the victim tried to catch them.
In an update on the matter, Usman said the police officers collected the sum of N40,000 from him, which was all the money he had.
“Since I was brutalised and abandoned by the police, I’ve been unable to use one of my hands, as you can see. I had no proper treatment (medical care), as you can see.
“I was left without clothes. I just had to have my hair shaved with a razor blade,” Usman said.
He added that the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of the station, Olatunji Oladimeji, promised to retrieve the money and return it to him but had not done that yet.
SaharaReporters’ efforts to get comments from the Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, SP Benjamin Hundeyin, failed as he did not answer calls to his mobile phone.
However, when contacted, the DPO of Abattoir Police Area G Command, Oladimeji, told SaharaReporters that it has not been confirmed whether the policemen collected the said amount (N40,000) from the victim.
He, however, said that the officers, whom he did not reveal their identities, had been detained on the orders of the state police commissioner.
According to him, they would soon be transferred to the state command for further action.
The DPO also debunked Usman’s claim that he cannot move his hands as a result of the attack by the policemen, saying that he (DPO) saw the victim on Wednesday afternoon and the only injury he noticed was his broken head.
Oladimeji further explained that Usman was accosted by the police officers because he took a major road banned to commercial motorcyclists, popularly known as Okada riders, by the state government.
He, however, explained that the motorbike rider should not have been assaulted and injured by the police officers.
According to him, the police are only allowed to apprehend defaulters, confiscate their motorcycles and hand them over to the state-constituted task force.
Usman’s motorbike was handed over to the task force on Saturday, he added.
