Tunde Abass, a Nigerian activist, has been detained at Onipanu Police Station for filming a police officer harassing a citizen in the area.
In a video live-streamed by Tunde on his Facebook account, a policeman was seen trying to harass a young man driving a wine-coloured car. Tunde was heard shouting at the top of his voice and telling the police officer not to harass the man because “he has provided necessary documents”.
“You’re trying to intimidate the guy. They’ve burst his tyres. They’ve burst the guy’s tyres. They’re trying to intimidate the guy,” he said.
The police officer was also heard addressing the man he was said to be harassing as “stupid”. But Tunde approached him to say “this is injustice”.
Bystanders watching the scenes were seen wondering what the young man’s offence was.
“What has he done now?” one man said. “He has shown them the necessary documents now.”
“What’s going on here is injustice, sir,” Tunde would then say. “He has done nothing. He’s not insulting anybody; we’re all witnesses. You can’t kill us here. Una go kill us tire. This is intimidation; you arrested someone and you burst his tyre.”
Following the incidents, Tunde has now been arrested and detained by the police. Those familiar with his case said he is being tortured in detention.
Junwon Sanyaolu, a citizen reporter, shared Tunde’s story via his Twitter. “This is @TUNDEAbass10, arrested, tortured and currently detained at Onipanu Police Station for live streaming @PoliceNG harassment,” he said — a claim corroborated by multiple sources.
“SARS has obviously not ended and police brutality has continued unabated. We’d definitely be back to the streets,” he added.
This is @TUNDEAbass10 , arrested, tortured and currently detained at onipanu police station for live streaming @PoliceNG harassment. SARS has obviously not ended and police brutality has continued unabated. We’d definitely be back to the streets. #EndSARS #RevolutionNow pic.twitter.com/OjwB415mla
— JuwonSanyaolu (@AyowoleSanyaolu) March 21, 2021
When contacted, Muyiwa Adejobi, the Public Relations Officer of the Lagos State Police Command, did not respond to calls from our reporter. He also did not respond to a message requesting comments on the matter.
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