Viral video: Mentally unfit soldier arrested for brutalising police woman

 Juliana Francis

A 32-year-old electrician, Mr Yemi Ayeni, who attacked and brutalised a female traffic warden at the Ajangbadi area of Lagos State has been arrested.

In a viral video, the man, who posed as a military officer, flogged the woman police inspector black and blue.

In the 44 seconds video, Ayeni was seen arguing with the police woman, after which both of them struggled for possession of a cane.

Ayeni succeeded in wresting the cane from the woman and then pounced on her with it, flogging her mercilessly, causing a crowd to gather. The crowd screamed as he continued to flog and punched the Inspector, reminding him that the traffic warden was a woman and as such, shouldn’t be beaten that way.

It was after a man, who was walking pass, noticed how the suspect was flogging the woman that he tried to intervene, forcing the suspect to drop the cane and enter a commercial bus.

Following the viral video, the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Hakeem Odumosu had called for the immediate arrest of Ayeni. It was after his arrest that he was discovered to be a dismissed soldier.

The woman said: “A vehicle came out of nowhere and blocked the road, causing a traffic jam.  The driver was discharging and picking passengers. I used my baton to hit the door of the bus, asking the driver to move. The driver said that he was sorry, but suddenly this man came down and confronted me.”

According to Ayeni, he didn’t know what came over him, leading to his battering the Inspector.

He said: “It happened on a Sunday. I was in a bus when she hit with her baton. I came down and challenged her; that was how it all started. I regret my action. I beg Nigerians and women forums to forgive me. I don’t know what came over me.”

Ayeni, who said that he is married and has a daughter, explained that his wife and daughter went to stay with his mother for six months. He stressed it was not because he and his wife had any marital issues. Asked if he used to beat his wife, he said no, adding: “I have never beaten my wife.”

It was gathered that Ayeni had presented himself as a soldier, when he was not one. He noted that he enlisted into the military, but four months into his training, he asked to go for being mentally unfit.