Osun NSCDC, police bicker over assault on officers
Osun State command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps and the police, on Friday, disagreed over the attack on an NSCDC officer allegedly carried out by some police operatives.
The NSCDC personnel, identified simply as Owoeye, was said to have been assaulted and detained by policemen on Wednesday.
In some video clips that went viral on Friday, a man dressed in Ankara attire and a jacket with ‘Police’ boldly inscribed on it was seen assaulting the NSCDC officer.
Also, in the video, the officer was slapped by a man wearing police jacket, while the victim managed to disarm the assaulter.
In another video, an officer of the NSCDC was seen holding the dress of a man who wears a police jacket over an Ankara attire, while people in the vicinity watched them.
Background voices that accompanied the video purported that many police operatives assaulted an NSCDC operative on guard duty at the Elizabeth Estate.
Reacting to the video, Osun Police Public Relations Officer, Yemisi Opalola, said the operatives involved were, “Policemen that came from Oyo State on investigation activities to an estate in Osogbo to arrest a suspected criminal.
“They met civil defence personnel guarding the place, who prevented them from arresting the criminal and in the process; beat-up and injured two police officers and deflated the tires of their vehicle.
“The policemen thereafter called for reinforcement from the nearest Division around the place. Upon the arrival of the reinforcement, the policemen were rescued and one of the Civil Defence personnel who assaulted the police officers and prevented them from performing their lawful duty was arrested and taken to State CID for investigation.”
However, the NSCDC spokesperson in the state, Kehinde Adeleke, said, “The personnel of NSCDC on duty, as trained officers, requested for means of identification which the individuals who claimed to be policemen failed to provide.
“Instead, they resorted to intimidations and raining incentives on the NSCDC personnel on duty, as well as, the corps in general. After they failed to identify themselves, they left the premises of the estate.
“The situation escalated the following day, Wednesday, October 23, 2024, when a group of police numbering about 20 drove into the estate and descended on one NSCDC personnel, physically assaulting him and inflicting grievous bodily harm on him.
“The officer’s uniform was torn, he was brutalised beyond description, disarmed, handcuffed like a common criminal, and forcefully taken to Ataoja Division before being moved to the police headquarters.
“Efforts to resolve the issue amicably were made by an NSCDC team of senior officers, who visited the police headquarters. However, the police refused to release the detained NSCDC personnel. They concocted unfounded lies of deflation of their vehicle tyres against him.
“Unfortunately, despite assurances by the police team that immediately NSCDC confirmed the identity of the officer in their custody, he would be released, a confirmation letter was taken to police state headquarters, yet they never released him since Wednesday 23rd October, 2024.
“He was just released this afternoon, today Friday, 25th, after he had been made to undergo more humiliating treatment in the hands of policemen on duty.”
