Barely five hours after the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu announced that the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) has been dissolved, officials of the Nigeria Police force assaulted Francis Ogbonna, a Cameraman with AriseTV .
Ferdinand Duruoha, a reporter with Arise TV while disclosing this via a video clip, condemned the incident, noting that Francis head was broken by the officers who attacked them.
Earlier on Sunday, the IGP had dissolved the unit of the force, following reports that some elements in the force, use their positions to commit various crimes.
Nigerian youths with Francis inclusive, have expressed happiness over the disbandment of SARS. Some had gone to the micro-blogging sites, (Facebook, Twitter) to appreciate the kind gesture of President Muhammadu Buhari.
However, their happiness was cut short when Police officers attacked and brutalized Francis hours after SARS disbandment while on duty.
“We took the IG’s message live on Twitter banning SARS, and on returning from that particular interview, we saw some youth along the road, protesting.”
“While we were trying to speak to them and get their takes on the IG’s message, we were attacked by policemen who have brutally assaulted Francis and broke his camera and Arise news camera.”
He added:
“This is the result of that brutalization. I am about taking him to the hospital but then we just need to get this as a sign of evidence of what the police have done.”
Watch video below:
Police brutality continues. ARISE News cameraman beaten up by policemen shortly after the IG’s speech disbanding SARS. #EndSARS #PoliceBrutality #PoliceBrutalityInNigeria #EndPoliceBrutalityinNigeria #ReformNigeriaPolice pic.twitter.com/vqdELtLOdk
— ARISE News Feed (@ARISEtv) October 11, 2020