Nigeria police begin ‘trial’ of six officers who smacked two people with machete

Police in Nigeria’s southeastern Imo state have begun an “orderly room trial” of six officers caught on viral video using a machete to attack two unidentified people in the state.

The National Police spokesperson, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, disclosed that a Twitter message on tuesday

Viral video

PREMIUM TIMES reported in 45 seconds the clipfive officers attack two people in an open space, while a sixth officer pulls a machete from a parked SUV that was an operational police vehicle.

The sixth officer is caught on video striking two people several times with a machete.

Apart from the incident of the attack, the neighborhood looks calm.

From background notes, apparently made by people secretly recording the attack, the incident took place in Owerri, the capital of Imo State.

The exact place and date of the event, however, are currently unclear.

“What kind of country will it be?” said a voice in the background in the video.

“Omo, see how I am cutting with the stick! How absurd is that?

“See what the police are doing in Owerri”.

A Twitter user who posted the video on April 20 said the victims are students of Imo State University, who refused officers to search their phones.

The Imo State police spokesman, Henry Okoye, commented on the Twitter post, saying the officers’ conduct was “totally unacceptable”.

He posted his phone number and asked victims to contact him.

“The Imo Police Command is aware of this indecent video and we are currently investigating to identify the group of officers,” said Mr. Okoye, the Assistant Superintendent of Police.

Tidy room test

Mr. Adejobi, the Senior Superintendent of Police, identified the officers as Sunday Amadi (Inspector and Team Leader), one Inspector Charles Amajuoji and one Chinese Sergeant Noachian.

Others include Emmanuel Onwuka, another sergeant, Goodness Nzewuodo, a corporal and Emmanuel Chimezie, a police constable.

ALSO READ: VIDEO: The police beat two people with machetes in Imo

A spokesman for the force, who attached a photo of the officers and a video clip of the incident to his Twitter post, incorrectly suggested that the officers were attacking only one man.

“The Imo State Police has commenced the prosecution of policemen caught on video flogging and assaulting a man in Imo State recently,” he wrote.

But the clip showed two unidentified people – one wearing orange pants and one wearing light green pants – being attacked by the officers.

The attack on the two unidentified persons came about two days after the police charged an officer who allegedly killed a man in Delta state, south-south Nigeria, for refusing to give N100 relief.

The police recently sacked an officer who was filmed slapping a motorist in another South-South state, Rivers State.