Police beat up EBSU lecturer, Ogbodo, at checkpoint

Tension was high at Mile 50 area of Ebonyi Local government area in Ebonyi State when an Associate Professor and Lecturer, Emmanuel Ogbodo, was at the weekend beaten to stupor by policemen at a checkpoint there.

Ogbodo, who is of the Department of Soil and Environmental Management, Ebonyi State University (EBSU), Abakaliki, became a target of police brutality for allegedly delaying to stop to be ‘checked’.

He was allegedly assaulted by the policemen, who gave him head, limbs and eye injuries, after which they dragged him to Kpirikpiri Police Division.

When our reporter met Ogbodo on his bed at Federal Teaching Hospital, Abakaliki, he explained that the police officers were infuriated when he identified himself as a professor.

He said: “The leader of the police team overheard me identifying myself as Professor Obodo, and I think he got interest or something of that nature.

“So, he started shouting: ‘Who is that person that is trying to intimidate my people by saying that he is a Professor. Does he think he can intimidate my boys?’ “Suddenly he started shouting shoot that man, shoot him, shoot him.

“So, these policemen, who looked better organised, started corking their guns without shooting, while people started scampering into different directions for safety.

“So, the officer staggered to where we were standing and told me to surrender the key to the vehicle.

“I told him that the key was still at the ignition and that I don’t have the key; that seemed not to have convinced or impressed him in anyway. So he continued to shout, ‘Get me the key’.

“Then, he landed me two blows on my face. At that stage he continued to ask for the key and when he discovered that I was not yielding, he started using his gun on me.

“And surprisingly, other policemen in his team, who were there, instead of separating or restraining the man from what he was doing, also joined in hitting me until I fell down.

“They were hitting me with the butt of their guns from all sides; with their batons and also kicking me until they brought me down.

“Having done that, they dragged me to the vehicle and took me to their Police Division at Kpirikpiri.

“My sight is still blurred. I think it is quite brutal. I didn’t expect such from people who are actually there to protect me.

“My face is visibly swollen after bleeding all over my head. I have swollen head. They hit me on the chest, so I now have chest pains and even my limbs are all injured. Pains are all over my body.

“While I report this matter to their superiors, thereafter I will seek justice in court and hopes to get it”.

When contacted the Ebonyi State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO),

Sylvester Igbo, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), denied that the Professor was beaten by six policemen.

He however said that only one policeman, who was injured during the squabble, retaliated and wounded the don.

He maintained that it was the lecturer that provoked the assault, adding that the area where the incident occurred had a record for armed robbery and kidnapping in the state.

Recently, an Assistant Superintendent of Police attached to the Ebonyi Command attacked a medical doctor, sprayed tear gas on his eyes for attending to his wife, a Muslim, who came to the Federal Teaching Hospital, Abakaliki, for treatment.