TheCable

Some police officers on mufti have attacked some residents of Lagos state with guns, machetes and bottles.

The officers from the Area P command of the state attacked the residents of the Aboru area of Alimosho LGA for resisting the arrest of some youths in the area.

Earlier, some armed police officers from the command who were on mufti without any tag drove a yellow commercial bus to a shop in the area and arrested the youths for playing ludo games.

Police officers attack Lagos residents with machetes, bottles for resisting arrest of boys playing ludo pic.twitter.com/nyg8qDc5DV

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But the residents of the area came out to challenge the police officers, asking them why the boys were being arrested. One of the officers said they were caught playing ludo and “gambling”.

The residents, however, resisted the arrest saying the officers were not identifiable and there was no way they could trace the boys to their stations. Some of the residents also claimed ludo was an indoor game and cannot be tagged a criminal offence.

TheCable reporter, who monitored the development, spoke to one of the officers who insisted the boys must be arrested for “gambling”.

The officers called the command for reinforcement alleging that they were under attack by residents of the area.

About 20 minutes later, about 15 police officers invaded the area with three yellow commercial buses and began to arrest the residents. One of the police officers in mufti broke an empty bottle of beer on a car mechanic’s head. Two others attacked the residents with machetes.

The police officers carted away mechanical equipment, car plate numbers and other working tools in nearby workshops.

The armed police officers also attempted to arrest and force TheCable reporter into one of the commercial buses. When he identified himself as a journalist, he was immediately released.

In January, Oluwamuyiwa Adejobi, force public relations officer, said wearing a mufti during a patrol or stop and search by its personnel is a breach of the code of conduct of the force and should be curtailed.

“You will recall that we have ordered and announced that any policeman embarking on routine patrol or stop and search must be in uniform, properly dressed, and easily identified. It’s not ideal to carry out a stop and search in mufti. The audacity to misbehave or carry out unprofessional conduct comes when you know your identity is hidden and unknown. I still reiterate that policemen on stop and search and routine patrol must be in uniform,” Adejobi said.

In 2019, the Lagos state police command said the use of commercial vehicles popularly known as Danfo for police operations is unacceptable and defaulters will be sanctioned.

When TheCable contacted Benjamin Hundeyin, the state police public relations officer (PPRO), his number was busy.

In a text message to TheCable, Hundeyin directed the reporter to a police complaint desk. The desk also redirected the reporter to the PPRO.