A crowed at the scene of the incident
Reports reaching us according to PM News, there was pandemonium in Benin City, Edo State
on Saturday, when a combined team of police and Nigerian Security and
Civil Defence Corps operatives, allegedly beat up a soldier, for not
wearing face mask.
The incident occurred Saturday afternoon, at Lagos street, barely
24-hours after the state government shut down the street to all business
activities over alleged refusal of traders and residents of the street
to comply with the directives to participate in the ongoing screening
and testing exercise for Coronavirus, as part of efforts to contain the
pandemic.
It was gathered that trouble started when an unidentified military
operative who was on the street was asked to put on his face mask.
An eyewitness who declined to mention his name said the soldier who was
on military khaki short had an handkerchief on his neck and that his
wife did not properly put on her face mask.
“On entering Lagos Street, the soldier and his wife were asked to wear
their face mask by the policemen on duty. The soldier brought his ID
card to identify himself but the police officer dismissed the ID card as
fake.
“The soldier got infuriated when one of the police officer pushed his
wife with a gun in a bid to force her to wear the face mask.
“Following the argument that ensued, the policemen descended on the
soldier and injured him on the head with the butt of their gun,” he said.
Traders and passers-by were forced to run in different directions, as
men of the Nigerian Army who later stormed the area, allegedly shot
repeatedly into the air to scare the police and NSCDC officers.
Quick intervention by officers of the Nigerian Army and the State police command, quelled the situation.
The feuding parties were later driven to the nearby Oba Market Police division to resolve the issue.
The State Police Command’s spokesman, DSP Chidi Nwabuzor, could not be reached on his mobile for for comment.
