The Ondo State Police Command, on Tuesday, said it had arrested one of its men, for allegedly beating and injuring a female student of the Federal University of Technology, Akure.
Some students of the institution were said to have had an encounter with some policemen attached to the ‘A’ Division Police Station, Akure, on Sunday, and one of them was allegedly injured by a policeman.
The female student identified as Sheba Ogbu, said the incident happened at about 9:30pm on Monday along Oyemekun Road in Akure, the state capital.
Ogbu said she was coming from church when policemen in their patrol van accosted her.
She said they questioned her on where she was coming from, searched her bag and found nothing incriminating on her.
She disclosed that when they could not pin anything on her, the four security operatives asked her to follow them to a place where they would have sex with her.
According to her, she refused their advances and that was what infuriated the policemen, adding that they began to beat her and smashed her head on a stone.
The undergraduate and her family have threatened to sue the Nigeria Police Force for the assault.
The encounter has already gone viral on social media.
In the viral video, Ogbu was seen bleeding in one eye and kept saying, “Look at my eye.”
The video, which was shared by a Twitter user with the handle, @ iambabtee, who claimed to be the Chairman of the National Association of Nigerian Students, Ondo area, started with a focus on the policemen, who were leaning on their white patrol van with the inscription: ‘Anti-Crime Patrol Division, Akure’.
There were four policemen in the video, who appeared unruffled by the plight of the bleeding student.
Towards the end of the video, when the young woman did a close up of her injured eye and said, “My eye,” a voice was heard saying, “Nobody touched you now.”
The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Mr Femi Joseph, confirmed the incident and said the badly behaved policeman had been arrested and would face trial.
Joseph, who declined to reveal the identity of the cop said that the incident involved two drunk students, who were on a motorcycle on Sunday, adding that they refused to be checked by the policemen, who were on patrol.
He stated, “The students were stopped by the policemen on patrol on Sunday night, and when they were asked to open their bag, they refused; that was what caused an argument between them and the policemen, leading to one of the cops to gently pushing one of the young women. But because she was tipsy, she fell down and got injured.
“In spite of that, as I am speaking with you now, the policeman in question has been arrested and will face trial today (Tuesday). He will definitely be punished.”
FUTA management has condemned the alleged assault of one of its students by a policeman, describing the action of the cop as uncivilised.
The university’s position was contained in a statement issued by the Deputy Director, Public Communications, FUTA, Mr Adegbenro Adebanjo, on Tuesday.
The statement read in part, “The resort to such objectionable and brutal treatment is not in sync with civilised norms and is at variance with all known rules of engagement and relationship between law enforcement officers and students under whatever guise.
“The university, through its counselling unit and health centre, is providing adequate support for the student, who has now been treated and discharged from hospital.”
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