Barely a week after a police officer was assaulted by a driver at Victoria Island, Lagos, another officer has been attacked by a driver on Wednesday.
In a video circulated on social media, a police officer was seen at the back of a truck talking to the driver, who was holding a beer bottle.
The driver then broke the bottle on the officer’s head and pushed him down from the truck. This act was supported by onlookers as there was a voice in the video inciting the driver to break the bottle on the officer’s head and push him down.
It is unclear what the police officer was doing at the back of the truck, but the assaulted police officer was unarmed and had an overall worn by traffic officers.
In a statement released by Muyiwa Adejobi, the Lagos police spokesperson on Wednesday, the assaulted officer is an Assistant Superintendent of Police identified as Dauda Ajayi.
Mr. Ajayi is a traffic officer attached to the Abattoir Division of the Command, the official said.
Explaining what transpired, Mr. Adejobi said the officer was trying to arrest the truck driver who fled the scene of an accident at the Abbatoir area.
“The fact of the case is that on Wednesday 21st April, 2021, at about 12.30pm, there was a case of hit and run serious accident involving a vehicle with Reg No BDG 756 YA, which hit a camry car with Reg No. KJA 281 GQ, and as a result a motorcycle rider, Ashiru Saadu, m, was affected and seriously injured.
“In the process, the driver of the Camry car waited but the driver of the Dyna vehicle with Reg. No. BDG 746 YA escaped from the scene.
“Then, the Traffic Officer gave him a chase and was stopped at Pipeline Area Oko-Oba, Lagos. The driver alighted from the vehicle, pounced on the Traffic Officer and broke a bottle on his head. The officer sustained varying degree of injuries,” Mr. Adejobi said in the statement.
He added that the Commissioner of Police, Hakeem Odumosu, was taken aback by the act of the driver and some individuals in the viral video and ordered that the case be thoroughly investigated while the driver and his accomplices involved in the dastardly act be caused to face the full wrath of the law.
“The Lagos State Police Command has commenced investigation into the attack on the Traffic Officer, ASP Daudu Ajayi, m, attached to Abattoir Division of the Command as captured in the video that went viral today Wednesday 21st April, 2021.
“The Commissioner of Police has again warned the general public to desist from launching attacks on police personnel and other security agencies in the state as such will be tactically resisted and culprits (attackers) be dealt with in line with the provisions of the law,” the police said.
Mr. Adejobi added that the Commissioner has vowed to get the fleeing driver arrested and prosecuted so as to serve as a deterrent to others like him, and to ascertain that the command will not tolerate any act of lawlessness in the state.
The attack is coming on the heels of another attack on an officer by an erring driver on Saturday.
