27 Police Personnel On COVID-19 Duty Have Been Assaulted – IGP
The Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, has condemned the attacks on police personnel in parts of the country.
In a statement on Sunday by the Force Public Relations Officer, Frank Mba, the IGP warned that the police would no longer condone such attacks.
According to him, 27 police personnel have suffered a series of attacks and assaults from members of the public at different times and locations since the commencement of the COVID-19 enforcement duties.
Adamu decried that many of the officers were in hospitals receiving treatment from the injuries sustained during such attacks.
“These include a female police officer, PC Ngozi Nkem, in Agbor, Delta State who was seriously assaulted when a police team was dispersing a group of persons holding a birthday party in clear disobedience to the social restrictions and distancing orders,” the statement read.
It added, “Apart from the attack on the person of police officers, some of these citizens have equally carried out attacks on police assets and facilities.
“For example, two police stations and police quarters were attacked and burnt down in Katsina and Abia States while 15 police vehicles/motorcycles were also damaged.”
The IGP, however, commended the DCO II at Eruwa Police Division, Adeyemo Ogunyemi, for his restraint and professionalism in the face of unprovoked attack as shown in a viral video.
In the clip, the police boss said a woman identified as Kehinde Afolake was seen assaulting the officer, who did not retaliate, while on COVID-19 enforcement duty on Friday last week at Gbolagunte in Eruwa town in Oyo State.
“The officer, like a lamb being led to the slaughter, did not fight back but rather, maintained absolute calm, patience, and decorum even as the woman rough handled him and slapped him severally.
“The said woman also assaulted two female police officers, Inspector Ojola Abiola and Inspector Queen Eguaoje, and gave one of them a human bite on Saturday, May 2, 2020, during an attempt to invite her to the police station for the earlier incident of serious assault on the DCO,” the statement added.
The police boss described the incident as a classic example of unprovoked, unwarranted, and unnecessary attacks faced by police officers in the course of performing their legitimate duties.
He, therefore, warned that the trend would no longer be tolerated by the police and ordered the Commissioner of Police in Oyo to carry out a discreet investigation into the Ewura attack on the police officers and ensure that justice was done.
