Bakare Ibrahim, a Disk Jockey (DJ), and Oyeniyi Abeeb, a Master of Ceremony (MC), were on Sunday publicly assaulted by police officers attached to Meiran Police Division, Alagbado, Lagos, for refusing to surrender their ATM cards.

Ibrahim and Abeeb were going to pick up some of their instruments from the venue of their previous show at about 10 am when they were stopped by four policemen in the Command area of Lagos.

Thinking it was the regular police stop-and-search, the young men stopped their bikes and complied with all instructions until Ibrahim’s ATM card was requested.

His refusal to give in annoyed the policemen and they hit him several times while insisting on getting the card.

“If not for the people passing by, I don’t know what would have happened,” Ibrahim told FIJ. “They kept hitting me so much and so hard till passers-by stopped to rescue us.”

His shirt was torn in the struggle and two phones, iPhone 11 Promax and iPhone Xs Max, belonging to him and his friend were damaged.

“We no longer have any phone to make video skits or record our performance for promotion,” Ibrahim lamented. “Our phones are important instruments that play a big role in the work we do. We really need to have them repaired.”

Shortly after the incident, the victims informed Shonubi Toyosi, the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) in charge of Meran Police Division. Although she promised the phones would be repaired on Monday, nothing has been done so far.

When FIJ spoke with Toyosi on Monday, she said she was aware of the assault and that the victims would be compensated.