A confrontation between a police officer and a bus conductor inside a commercial vehicle in Lagos State has triggered widespread outrage.
This is also as a viral video showed passengers pleading with the officer to stop rough-handling the visibly distressed conductor.
In the video, recorded by a female passenger, the police officer is seen pinning the conductor to a bus while bystanders beg him to loosen his grip.
Meanwhile, Several voices can be heard shouting, “Leave him! Do you want to kill him? He cannot run away!”
A concerned woman is also heard warning the officer that the conductor appeared to be “suffocating,” urging people to bring water so the man would not pass out.
“If this guy slumps in your hands, it won’t be the way you think,” a passenger cautioned.
“An elderly man is standing here begging you. If he dies, can you take him home?”
The conductor, struggling to speak, repeatedly cried: “Help me, I don’t know what I did.”
Meanwhile, the police officer defended his actions, insisting the conductor had assaulted him first.
According to him, a LASTMA official had earlier stopped the vehicle, after which he intervened to calm the situation.
“As a police officer, I came down and begged the LASTMA officer to allow him. I told the conductor to close his door while carrying passengers,” he said.
“Before I knew it, this guy started beating me on my uniform. Even the driver told him not to beat a man in uniform, but he insisted.”
The officer also accused the concerned woman at the scene of “supporting” the conductor while filming the altercation.
“She has every right as a Nigerian to do her video,” he admitted.
“I will not lie against somebody. If I were doing something bad, I would collect the phone, but I’m not doing anything wrong.”
Cases of police harassment and brutality are rampant in Lagos.
In past cases, residents have called on the state police command to rein in on lawless and power-drunk personnel who assault people without remorse.
