Members of a police patrol team whose vehicle ran over a handcuffed man in Ekpoma area of the state late Thursday have been arrested on the orders of the police commissioner.
There was stir at the university town of Ekpoma in Esan West local government area of Edo State Thursday evening when the patrol vehicle ran over the man who was earlier handcuffed and asked to lie down by the policemen.
A video surfaced yesterday showing a crowd apparently watching the handcuffed man on the floor at the front of the police vehicle, before the driver moved, dragging him on the ground for more than 100 meters while ignoring shouts from the crowd.
The incident generated an uproar from the crowd which was quickly dispersed by gunshots from the policemen.
Spokesman of the Edo State police command, SP Chidi Nwabuzor in a press statement however said the policemen had been arrested and the commissioner of police, Mohammed Dankwara, had appealed for calm.
The statement said: “The facts of the incident as gathered preliminarily indicate that on 29/06/2023 at about 1700hrs, ASP Magdalene Osayande reported at Ekpoma Divisional Police Headquarters, Ekpoma, Edo State that while on routine stop and search duty with her team of six policemen along Ihumudumu Road, Ekpoma, Edo State, intercepted a driver of unregistered Lexus car and demanded for the vehicle particulars.”
“Along the line, he became aggressive and refused to oblige the request of the police operatives, but rather attacked them, inflicted injuries on them, and destroyed police vehicle.
“However, he was arrested, handcuffed, and identified as one Success Ehimare before the incident that is currently trending in social media occurred. He was later taken to Irrua Specialist Hospital for treatment, and he is in good health condition.
“In the light of the above, CP Mohammed Adamu Dankwara has condemned the action of the policeman that he saw in the trending video, and described it as barbaric, inhumane and unprofessional.
“He, therefore gave a marching order to the DPO, Ekpoma to identify, arrest and bring to the state police headquarters in Benin for brief and debrief. The officers have so far been arrested, and they are with the State Criminal Investigation Department .”
