A source privy to the situation claimed that the policeman acted because the driver did not pay him a bribe while plying the highway.
An officer of the Nigeria Police Force has been captured threatening a road user in Kaima area of Bayelsa State.
In a video obtained by SaharaReporters, the police officer was seen shouting at the top of his voice with a threat to shoot at the motorist if he failed to cooperate with him.
A source privy to the situation claimed that the policeman acted because the driver did not pay him a bribe while plying the highway.
The source said, “The guy driving me was familiar with the road safety personnel and gave his friend among them money. This prompted the police officer to jump at the car. He wielded a stick in an attempt to smash the side mirror or headlamp. And he kept shouting we should park.”
“I approached the team lead. He kept shouting he would shoot us. He said, thunder will fire us. He was obviously drunk. When they sensed the encounter was being recorded, they were threatening the young ladies filming to delete it. I asked the team lead where was his firepower discipline as he kept removing the safety of his assault rifle like four times. I told them we had the right to record their encounter because we felt threatened.
“The question is “who handed over assault rifle to drunkards”? The source said.
This incident is one of many cases of police brutality in the country. For instance, last month, the Lagos High Court convicted and sentenced a Nigerian police officer, Darambi Vandi to death by hanging for killing a Lagos-based lawyer, Mrs Omobolanle Raheem, on December 25, 2022.
SaharaReporters had reported how ASP Vandi attached to Ajiwe Police Station, last Christmas Day shot the female legal practitioner while she was returning home from a Christmas service at Ajah Under-bridge.
It was gathered that after killing Raheem, the trigger-happy policeman fled the scene with his colleagues before another set of policemen later took her remains to a mortuary in the Yaba area of the state.
Raheem’s death generated a nationwide outrage with Nigerians from all walks of life calling for the prosecution of the killer police officer and justice for the deceased. The court has meanwhile sentenced him to death.