#PoliceIsYourFriend: Lagos police allegedly harass man for “holding iPhone”
A young man, identified as Dami, has joined an increasing list of victims of police harassment, following his encounter at the hands of the law enforcers today (April 4).
The victim, who narrated his experience, said he was unjustly cuffed by policemen at the Ojodu Berger area of Lagos for an unknown offence.
Here is how he shared his experience:
“So much for “police is your friend”. We are in 2017.
“And the harassment from police officers who are meant to protect us (hasn’t stopped).
“I have been hearing lot of stories about people being harassed and questioned for no reason at all and I thought it’s all fables until it happened to me about 12:30pm this afternoon.
“Just alighted from a car that took me from Ogbomosho down to Lagos. While waiting at Berger bus stop just before the bridge, a man approached me saying he is a police man that I should follow him.
“I simply refused to because I don’t know him from Adam. I am very sure it was because of the iPhone 6s plus he saw in my hand, he must have thought I was a Yahoo boy.
“To cut the story short, I refused them to search any of my belongings, they slapped me and handcuffed my right hand using the cuffs to drag (me) to their van.
“And I struggled because I know if I get to their station, it’s another story they will say.
“Right now my right hand hurts so bad all because I was standing at the bus stop to board a bus, or rather because they saw an iPhone in my hand.
“Please policemen should stop this, it’s not moving us forward.”
Police in Nigeria are fond of the mantra, “Police is your friend.”
