Police officer on hot seat for assaulting Lagos Uber driver

The Lagos State Police Command has grilled one of its officers, Obic Modestus, attached to the Ketu Police Division, arrested for assaulting an Uber driver in the community.

The state Police Public Relations Officer, CSP Benjamin Hundeyin, confirmed the arrest in a tweet on X.com on Monday.

He stated that the officer was summoned by the Complaint Response Unit and would be handed over to the Provost Department for appropriate disciplinary measures.

In a now-viral video, Modestus was seen violently assaulting the yet-to-be-identified driver.

The officer and his colleagues were said to have flagged down the driver during a stop-and-search operation in the community. He, however, became furious when the driver allegedly attempted to record him while he attempted to search the vehicle.

In the video recorded by one of the passengers, Modestus dragged the driver out of his vehicle and took him where their van was stationed.

After seizing his phone, the officer continued to beat the driver in the presence of his colleagues.

Hundeyin, while reacting to the video on X, further stated that the Commissioner of Police, Olohundare Jimoh, would not condone any form of incivility to members of the public.

He wrote, “The Police Officer, Inspector Obic Modestus, has been summoned by the Complaint Response Unit.

“He will be handed over to the Provost Department for appropriate disciplinary measures. The Lagos State Police Command, under CP Olohundare Jimoh, will not condone any form of incivility to members of the public.”

The Chairman of the Lagos State Council of the Amalgamated Union of App-Based Transporters of Nigeria, Azeez Jaiyesinmi, in a terse message sent to our correspondent frowned on the action of the officer.

“This is very bad and that’s what our members have turned to in the hands of the police, assaulting a fellow driver, because they want to extort him,” he wrote.

Punch