Lagos Police Investigate Video of Officers Attacking Gold Seller

The Lagos State Police Command has started looking into a viral video showing some policemen allegedly attacking a gold seller in the Festac area of Lagos.

The police shared this information in a statement on their official X handle on Saturday. They said the officers seen in the video are from Area E Command.

This incident happened on Friday and caught a lot of attention on Saturday when the victim posted videos claiming the officers assaulted him while he was delivering a gold necklace to a customer.

In the videos, the man said the officers stopped him and searched him. He said they found no illegal items but questioned a digital scale he used for weighing gold.

The man claimed the officers accused him of using the scale to weigh cannabis and told him to come with them to the police station. He said he refused because he had done nothing wrong. He felt uneasy because the officers were not in proper police uniforms and the vehicle they came in had no registration number.

He further claimed that the officers tried to drag him into the vehicle, hit him on the head with a gun, and physically attacked him. The video showed a short confrontation outside a red minibus before cutting to the man, who showed an injury near his eye and the gold necklace he was delivering at that moment.

Another video later appeared online where the man alleged that one of the officers told his colleagues to open fire before they ran away from the scene.

In response to the videos, the Lagos State Police Command stated that they had identified the officers involved and called them for investigation.

The command said, "The Lagos State Police Command has seen the video and has commenced an investigation into the incident."

They added, "The officers involved have been identified as personnel attached to Area E Command. The Commissioner of Police, Lagos State Command, CP Tijani Fatai, has directed the Area Commander to immediately produce the officers at the Command Headquarters for further investigation and appropriate action."

The police also urged the person in the video to contact the Command’s Complaint Response Unit on 09111111150 or 09111111151 to help with the ongoing investigation.