Some police officers in Owerri, Imo State capital have physically assaulted and brutalised some students of Imo State University (IMSU) for allegedly refusing to submit their mobile phones to the officers to be searched.
In a 45-second long footage of the incident, the police officers could be seen dragging and tearing the clothes of the victims while slapping, hitting and cutting them with a machete.
It was gathered from the video recorded by some residents of the area that the police officers who operated in a deep red Toyota Sienna minivan stormed the compound where the students live and started brutalising them without explaining what their offences were.
Speaking in pidgin English, one of the residents who recorded the incident said, “See how he is cutting him with cutlass. Which kind of thing is this? See what police are doing. They came inside someone’s compound. See what police are doing in Owerri. These guys didn’t do anything. They (police) run into the compound.”
A Twitter user, @ebe_tins who shared the video online said, “These are Imo state university students who police are assaulting because they refuse to give out their phones to search.”
Reacting to the incident, the Imo State Police Public Relations Officer, Henry Okoye, said the state police command was aware of the incident and that investigation was ongoing to identify the officers.
Asking the victims of the incident to contact the state police command, Okoye said, “This is totally unacceptable, it’s not our standards.
“Imo Police Command is aware of this obscene video and we are currently investigating to identify the team of officers.”
“The victims of this harassment are encouraged to reach me via 08148024755.”
“Justice must prevail!!”
