A dramatic confrontation unfolded on Monday after a Mobile Police officer clashed with an e-hailing driver at Wempco Road in the Ogba area of Lagos State.
PUNCH Metro learnt that the driver while in transit along the area slowed down on getting to a Zebra crossing for a pedestrian who made use of it.
The police officer who also crossed the road at the point however hit the car’s bonnet, accusing the driver of attempting to hit him.
Reacting, the driver asked why he wanted to damage his car.
A resident who witnessed what transpired, Johnson Sule, told our correspondent that the question irked the cop who forcefully opened the car door, dragged the driver out and started throwing punches at him.
He said, “The driver waited for the pedestrians to take the Zebra crossing, but the Mopol just rushed and accused him of trying to hit him. That was how it all started. He dragged him out of his car and started to beat him up.
“It got to a point that the driver could no longer bear the assault again and while trying to resist him, he injured the policeman on his arm and he started to bleed.”
The encounter was said to have attracted other Mobile Police officers who stopped by and supported their colleague.
The driver was said to have been arrested in the process and dragged to the station.
Another E-hailing driver who gave his name only as Abayomi, who was also privy to the incident, told our correspondent that it took the intervention of the rider who offered to pay for the treatment of the injured police officer before the driver was released.
He said, “The driver only tried to defend himself while the Mopol officer punched him. The officer even almost hit the driver’s head on the culvert and he intentionally did that to make him unconscious. He could have died as a result of that. Other officers who intervened were less concerned about how the altercation started. They only supported their colleague and accused him of fighting with a police officer in uniform before they took him to the station.“It was the rider who had tried to settle the matter that had to pay for the treatment of the police before the driver was released.” (Punch)