The policemen involved in the assault of an unidentified man in Rivers State, southern Nigeria, have been arrested.

Development Diaries reports that the spokesman for the Nigerian police Olumuyiwa Adejobi disclosed this on his Twitter handle.

‘Inspector Adejoh Siaka; Inspector Friday Obaka, and Sgt. Ndiwa Kpuebari from Rivers State. These are the men who slapped a man on the road in Rivers. They reported at the Force Headquarters today. Trial will soon commence. We will update you as soon as possible. Thanks’, Adejobi tweeted.

Inspector Adejoh Siaka; Inspector Friday Obaka, and Sgt. Ndiwa Kpuebari from Rivers State. These are the men who slapped a man on the road in Rivers. They reported at the Force Headquarters today. Trial will soon commence. We will update you as soon as possible. Thanks. pic.twitter.com/86id2aUWvx

— Prince Olumuyiwa Adejobi (@Princemoye1) April 11, 2023

Officers were caught in a video assaulting motorists along Elibrada Junction in Emohua local government area of the state.

The video shows one of the policemen, armed with an AK-47 rifle, slapping a man dressed in white.

The policeman could be heard speaking in Pidgin English.

‘Waka de go’, he directed.

But the man challenged him, asking what he did wrong that warranted the assault.

This act by the said policemen is a complete violation of human rights and is totally condemnable.

Section 50 (four) of the Police Act 2020 provides that for any police officer to exercise the power to stop and search, he shall be in uniform or wear visibly a valid police identity card.

In the viral video, the policemen were not in approved uniforms but were armed. This in itself is a violation of the Act.

Also, section 51 (one) of the Act further explains the general conduct of a search.

‘Reasonable effort shall be taken to minimise the embarrassment that a person or the person whose property is being searched may experience’, it reads.

Furthermore, section 37 of the Act provides that a suspect at any point has the right to his dignity of person and must not be subjected to any form of torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.

Development Diaries, therefore, calls on the Nigerian police to ensure that the officers responsible for this unprofessional and irresponsible are punished according to the law.

We further call on the police to make the trial and punishment of these officers transparent in order for other rogue policemen to learn from the incident and desist from it.

We also urge the victim who was assaulted to make legal complaints in order to get justice for being treated in an inhumane manner.

Photo source: Nigerian police