In Imo State, South-east Nigeria, armed police officers were filmed smacking two unidentified people with a machete.
The video clip, which is circulating on Twitter, highlights the ongoing issue of police brutality in Nigeria following the 2020 historic endars protests, which resulted in the disbandment of a notorious police unit.
In the 45-second video, five officers are seen assaulting two people in an open area, while a sixth officer pulls a machete from a parked SUV believed to be a police operational vehicle.
The sixth officer is seen in the video repeatedly smacking the two people with the machete.
Apart from the assault, the neighborhood appears to be calm.
According to the background remarks, which were apparently made by people who were secretly recording the assault, the incident occurred in Owerri, Imo State.
For the time being, the exact location and date of the incident are unknown.
“Which kind country be dis?” said a background voice in the video.
“Omo, see as him dey cut-am with cutlass! Which kind nonsense be dis?
“See wetin police dey do for Owerri”.
According to a Twitter user who posted the video on the microblogging site on April 20, the victims are Imo State University students who refused to allow the officers to search their phones.
Imo State police spokesperson Henry Okoye commented on the Twitter post, calling the officers’ behavior “totally unacceptable.”
He made his phone number public and invited the victims to contact him.
“Imo Police Command is aware of this obscene video and we are currently investigating to identify the team of officers,” Mr Okoye, an assistant superintendent of police, said.
The incident comes just two days after police arraigned an officer accused of killing a man in Delta State for refusing to take a N100 bribe.
A police officer who was filmed slapping a motorist in Rivers State was recently demoted.
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