Osun NSCDC, police bicker over alleged assault

The Osun State Commands of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps and the Nigeria Police Force disagreed on Friday following an assault suffered by NSCDC personnel while on guard duty, allegedly at the hands of some police operatives.

An NSCDC personnel, identified simply as Owoeye, was said to have been assaulted and, it was learned, was detained by the police after the incident, which occurred on Wednesday.

In some video clips that went viral on Friday, a man dressed in Ankara print but wearing a jacket with the inscription ‘POLICE’ boldly written was seen assaulting NSCDC personnel.

Also, in the video, the NSCDC officer was slapped by a man wearing a police jacket, while the officer managed to disarm the assailant.

In another video, NSCDC personnel were seen holding the clothing of a man wearing a police jacket over an Ankara print at the chest region while people in the vicinity watched.

Background voices accompanying the video suggested that many police operatives had assaulted NSCDC operatives on guard duty at Elizabeth Estate.

In response to the video, Osun Command Police Public Relations Officer, Yemisi Opalola, stated that the operatives involved were “policemen who came from Oyo State on investigative activities to an estate in Osogbo to arrest a suspected criminal.

“They encountered Civil Defence personnel guarding the location, who prevented them from making the arrest. In the process, they beat up and injured two police officers and deflated the tyres of their vehicle.

“The policemen subsequently called for reinforcements from the nearest division. Upon the arrival of the reinforcements, 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 the State CID for investigation.”

However, while providing her account of what transpired between the operatives of the two organisations, the spokesperson of the NSCDC Osun Command, Kehinde Adeleke, explained that some individuals who had approached its operatives on guard duty at the estate on Tuesday evening were in mufti and claimed to be police personnel.

Adeleke stated that the NSCDC officer they encountered insisted that they provide further means of identification since they were not in uniform, which infuriated the police team.

Adeleke further said, “A disturbing incident of barbaric police brutality occurred on Tuesday, October 22, 2024, around 8 p.m., at Elizabeth Estate in Osogbo, Osun State, when a group of individuals claiming to be police officers but wearing ‘ANKARA’ clothing with only a jacket on top drove recklessly into the estate with a private Sienna vehicle. They entered the estate, which is secured by personnel of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Osun State Command, to purportedly arrest a suspect.

“The NSCDC personnel on duty, as trained officers, requested means of identification, which the individuals who claimed to be policemen failed to provide. Instead, they resorted to intimidation and verbally assaulted 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 officers, numbering about 20, drove into the estate and physically assaulted one NSCDC officer, 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 State Headquarters.
Efforts to resolve the issue amicably were made by a team of senior NSCDC officers who visited the Police Headquarters. However, the police refused to release the detained NSCDC personnel, concocting unfounded allegations of deflation of their vehicle tyres against him.

“Unfortunately, despite assurances by the police team that the NSCDC officer in their custody would be released immediately upon confirmation of his identity, a confirmation letter was delivered to the police state headquarters, yet they never released him since Wednesday, October 23, 2024. He was only released this afternoon, Friday, October 25, after enduring further humiliating treatment at the hands of the policemen on duty.”

Demanding a thorough investigation into the matter to bring the perpetrators to justice, the Osun NSCDC Commandant, Dr Michael Adaralewa, vowed not to allow the issue to be swept under the rug.