Police Officers Assault Driver, Harass Passengers, Pregnant Woman In Abuja
ABUJA- A commercial car commuter, Faith Benjamin, has narrated how a team of Nigerian police officers allegedly assaulted a driver and harassed passengers of a ValGee Transport Service (VTS) vehicle she boarded from Abuja to Jos, Plateau State.
Faith in a social media post said the incident occurred on Monday near Mararaba, on the outskirts of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
According to her, the driver had attempted to follow other vehicles taking a one-way route to avoid a roadblock when police officers stopped the vehicle and attacked him without allowing any explanation.
She described the experience in a detailed Facebook post, recounting how passengers, including a pregnant woman, were also subjected to harassment and threats by the officers.
In a video, a police officer was captured repeatedly slapping the driver while shouting, “Are you mad? Are you mad?”
The officer could be seen forcefully dragging the man out of the vehicle during the altercation.
Faith wrote, “I just witnessed something terrifying this morning in Abuja and I’m still shaken. I boarded a ValGee Transport Service – VTS vehicle heading to Jos. We were moving fine until we got close to Maraba and met a blocked road.”
“Every vehicle ahead of us started turning back and taking one-way to avoid the road block. Our driver followed suit like others.”
“Suddenly, police officers stopped our vehicle, our driver was in the middle of the road and explained to them that he was trying to park the vehicle but they refused to let him park.”
“Before we could understand what was happening, they started hitting him. He hadn’t even properly parked or gotten out of the car.”
She said one officer attempted to slap a female passenger in the front seat, while a pregnant woman who pleaded to be left alone was told by the officers that they didn’t care.
“One of them tried to unbuckle the seat belt of the lady in the front seat. She calmly tried to explain that she was a passenger, but they ignored her. One officer even tried to slap her.”
“A pregnant woman in the car begged them to let her be, explaining her condition, but they said they didn’t care and kept shouting at us to come down from the vehicle.”
“The worst part was that they dragged our driver away while we sat there confused and scared. No proper explanation. Just violence.”
Benjamin called on the authorities to investigate the incident and ensure justice is served. “We are calling on relevant authorities to investigate this abuse of power. This kind of brutality cannot be normalised. Something must be done. #EndPoliceBrutality #JusticeForValgeeDriver”
As of the time of this report, police authorities had not issued an official statement regarding the incident.
Efforts to reach Abuja Police spokesperson Josephine Adeh for comment were unsuccessful, as she neither answered calls nor replied to messages.
