The Lagos State Police Command has launched an inquiry into a viral video showing police officers allegedly assaulting a gold seller in Lagos’ Festac neighbourhood.
The incident, which purportedly occurred on Friday, received considerable attention on Saturday after the victim posted recordings stating that he was assaulted by officers while delivering a gold necklace to a customer.
The command confirmed this in a statement posted on its official X account on Saturday, stating that the officers shown in the video were Area E Command personnel.
In the recordings, the man claims he was stopped and searched by cops, who purportedly discovered no incriminating items on him but questioned a digital scale he claimed he used to weigh gold.
According to him, the cops accused him of using the scale to weigh cannabis and forced him to follow them to the police station.
He claimed that he declined since he had committed no crime and grew suspicious because the policemen were not clothed properly in police clothes, and the vehicle they arrived in had no license plate.
The man claimed that the officers dragged him into the truck, punched him in the head with a revolver, and physically abused him.
The video showed a brief confrontation outside near a red minibus before switching to the man, who had an injury near his eye and a gold necklace that he claimed he was delivering at the time of the incident.
A follow-up video emerged online, in which the man said that one of the officers ordered his colleagues to start fire before fleeing the area.
In response to the footage, the Lagos State Police Command claimed the policemen involved had been identified and called for inquiry.
According to its statement, “The Lagos State Police Command has seen the video and has launched an investigation into the incident.”The officers involved were identified as being assigned to Area E Command.”
It added: “The Commissioner of Police, Lagos State Command, CP Tijani Fatai, has directed the Area Commander to immediately produce the officers at the Command Headquarters for further investigation and appropriate action.”