Police react to reports of man being dragged in Benin, releases statement

Police react to reports of man being dragged in Benin, releases statement

- The Nigerian police has reacted to the news that a man was dragged by their officials in Benin

- The video which showed a man handcuffed to a police truck and lying on the ground led to widespread outrage

- The police has however released a statement relaying their version of what happened

The Nigerian police through the Public Complaint Rapid Response Unit (PCRRU), has revealed that the video which recently went viral and reportedly shows a man been dragged by the police while chained to their truck is misinterpreted.

According to the police, there is no frame in the video that shows the man being dragged. They said that the man was simply arrested and when he tried to escape he was handcuffed to the truck.

Legit.ng gathered that subsequently, reinforcements were called in and the man was put back in the truck before being taken to the station. They also shared pictures to show the men were unhurt.

The police shared pictures of the men to show that they did not use unnecessary force
The police shared pictures of the men to show that they did not use unnecessary force

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Below is a part of the statement released:

"It is important to state that there is no frame in the 1:34" video in circulation on various social media platforms that shows anyone being dragged by a police patrol vehicle as insinuated.

"Preliminary #PCRRU investigation reveals that on Sunday 14.05.2017 at about 9:30am, the Police at Esigie Division in Benin-City, Edo state received an information regarding congregation of suspected cultists in preparatory to the commissioning of a felony.

"Based on the information, police team was dispatched to the scene where two male persons were arrested while others took to their heels.

"Upon a search on the person of the suspect seen handcuffed to the vehicle in the video some quantity of weeds suspect to be Indian hemp and powder suspected to be banned substances were found on him.

"Both arrested suspects were then loaded into the patrol vehicle and secured accordingly to prevent escape during transportation to the Police station. At a point along Sopkonba Road, Benin-City a crowd tried to prevent the free passage of the patrol vehicle transporting the suspects.

"That in the process one of the suspects (one seen in the video) tried to escape by jumping off the back of the open pick-up patrol van but was restrained by the handcuff attaching him to the vehicle. A reinforcement was called and the suspects were eventually taken to the station."

Nigerians have reacted to the police statement. Below are some of the things they said:

Watch more videos on Legit.ng TV!

Meanwhile, watch this Legit.ng video of a family who lost a member to a stray police bullet:

Source: Legit.ng

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