Churchgoer, sister allege police assault in Abuja

Abdullateef Fowewe

Reports of police brutality have sparked significant outrage after a woman known as #torty_mercy on X (formally Twitter) shared her brother’s experience of being assaulted by a police officer near Wuse Market in Abuja.

Video link: https://x.com/DailyEconews/status/1927013524791808087?t=1IQU5TX5skeZY9CSyIcyqQ&s=19

According to her post, the incident took place on Sunday while her brother was on his way home from church when he was reportedly attacked without any provocation.

In a video she posted on Sunday, her brother stated, “I was just returning from church at Wuse Market when I suffered a severe police assault. A policeman struck me with a large stick for over 30 minutes, and now I have an injury on my leg, making it impossible for me to move or run.

“People gathered, and I wasn’t even involved in any dispute; I was just a passenger in the vehicle. This is the police headquarters; I came to file a complaint. I have bruises all over my body.”

Elaborating on the incident, #torty_mercy noted, “Nigerian Police has done it again! My brother was coming back from church, driver packed along Wuse Market junction, opposite Zenith Bank, a police officer approached the driver as he was about to move and started dragging the steering with him, people in the vehicle started pleading, this guy left the steering, came round the vehicle and spat on my brother sitting by the window unprovoked!

“My brother came down to ask him what he did to him, this guy carried a stick and started hitting him, his colleagues were asking him to stop but did absolutely nothing to stop or restrain him, instead they were asking my brother to run, someone who recently had an accident and can’t even walk fast.”