Four FRSC officials brutalise naked cyclist in video

Juliana Francis

A human right activist has called for impartial investigation following the release of a trending video on social media, which showed at least four officials of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) beating a naked tricycle operator.

The one minute and 50 seconds video also shows one of the FRSC officials armed with a stone.

The video started with the cyclist in a boxer, sitting atop an FRSC's patrol van. The cyclist, suddenly standing on the bonnet of the van, screamed at standing officials. He removed his boxer and flung it in the direction of the officials, after which he jumped down and ran towards the officials, grabbing one by his uniform. He then quickly released the official, ran back to the van and lay on the bonnet.

The officials pursued him, shouting, “you dey craze, you craze.” They started slapping and punching him from different corners. The naked cyclist didn’t try to avoid the punches and slaps.

Reacting to the incident, FRSC, in a statement signed by Assistant Corps Marshal, Corps Public Education Officer, Bisi Kazeem, informed that the incident happened in Benin, Edo State.

Kazeem, explained that the cyclist, who was arrested in Benin, along Benin/Sapele road for driving against traffic, went berserk at the point of arrest, stripped and started throwing obstacles on both personnel and the patrol vehicle while at some point, dragged the patrol operatives in uniform.

Kazeem added: “During the attack, the man tore the staff's uniform and not only damaged the windscreen of the patrol car, but disfigured the bonnet and other body parts with mud and stone.  The Corps has therefore resolved never to condone such barbaric acts and damage to either its personnel or patrol vehicles any longer. And is prepared to use this case to serve as a deterrent to others who are fond of molesting law enforcement agents. It is also disheartening that a section of the motoring public could criticize the Corps personnel who in self defence, applied some commensurate force on the criminal in question in order to restrain him from further attack on the unarmed personnel and damage to the patrol vehicle.”

The Executive director of Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre, Okechukwu Nwanguma said: “This account by the FRSC does not also reflect the brutality meted by his personnel to the tricycle rider. They didn't need to have descended to the level of mass beating him, punching him on the face and head and kicking him. They could inflict a damaging injury on him or even kill him. Agreed, the tricycle rider was seen in the video standing on top of the FRSC vehicle, later went berserk, undressed bare, charged towards one of the road safety officials and physically attacked him and then ran back to lean face down in front of the bonnet of the FRSC vehicle, at that point he had been surrounded and subdued by the officers and he was no longer resisting or attacking them. All they needed was to arrest him and hand him over to the nearby police station for investigation. What if, from the man's actions, he turns out to be mentally challenged? The FRSC officials also acted without restraint and responsibility. They cannot be the judge in this case because they are an interested party. The incident needs to be independently and impartially investigated to ascertain what really led to that condemnable incident.”