Police Detain Officers Over Alleged Assault on Ede Polytechnic Students

The Nigeria Police Force, Zone XI Command, has detained officers involved in a raid on a hostel occupied by students of the Federal Polytechnic, Ede, Osun State, following allegations of assault and misconduct during the operation.

The state Police Public Relations Officer, Olanrewaju Ojedele, disclosed this on Thursday, saying an investigation had commenced to establish the circumstances surrounding the incident.

Ojedele also confirmed that all students arrested during the operation had been released, while the student allegedly assaulted was taken to a clinic for treatment before being discharged.

“The officers involved have been detained accordingly for further investigation. All suspects have been released and the suspect assaulted was taken to the clinic for treatment before being released,” he said.

In a separate statement, Ojedele said the Assistant Inspector-General of Police in charge of Zone XI, Bassey Ewah, ordered the immediate release of the arrested students after meeting representatives of the student body.

According to the statement, Ewah assured the students that the police would conduct a thorough and impartial investigation into the alleged assault by operatives of the command’s Cybercrime Unit.

The AIG also emphasised the need for accountability and professionalism in police operations, promising that the outcome of the investigation would be made public when concluded.

He urged residents to remain calm and law-abiding, adding that appropriate measures would be taken to ensure justice.

The development followed a petition by the South-West Zone of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) to the Inspector-General of Police, Olatunji Disu, alleging that officers attached to the Zone XI Cybercrime Unit invaded a student hostel and assaulted occupants.

In a letter signed by its coordinator, Josiah Adeyemo, the student body condemned the alleged conduct of the officers and demanded an investigation into the operation.

Adeyemo alleged that students were arrested and taken away without their families or student representatives being informed of their whereabouts.

He also claimed that video footage available to the association showed officers forcing their way into a hostel occupied by a male and a female student, intimidating the occupants and physically assaulting them.

The NANS coordinator further alleged that officers seized the mobile phones of another student who recorded the incident from a different building within the same compound.

The association demanded disclosure of the police formation where the students were detained, access for their families and lawyers, medical examinations for anyone assaulted and the return of seized phones where they were not lawfully required as exhibits.

It also called for the preservation of video evidence, disclosure of the legal authority for the operation and disciplinary action against any officer found culpable.

Video clips purportedly recorded at the scene and obtained by the correspondent showed two men dressed in black, one carrying a rifle, dragging a man wearing only underpants out of a building.

A woman who also emerged from the building was heard shouting for help, while the men repeatedly slapped the man during the struggle.

Another man dressed in black was also seen moving towards the direction from which the incident was being recorded.

The police have yet to publicly provide further details about the reason for the operation, the allegations against the arrested students or the specific circumstances that led to the confrontation.