The Edo State Security Network, a vigilante outfit, has arrested two policemen for allegedly being in possession of cannabis in Edo State.
The officers were arrested around Oko-Ogba on the Airport road in Benin, the state capital, during a stop-and-search operation by the local guards.
The men had searched the Lexus car with registration number, RX330 SUV, which one of the officers drove.
In a video, one of the officers, who was handcuffed, admitted being in possession of the substance but said it was exhibit recovered from some suspects.
A vigilante leader, John Osasere Ohonba, said the arrest was not meant to cast the police in a bad light but aimed at securing the environment.
Meanwhile, the police spokesperson in Edo, SP. Bello Kotongs, accused the vigilante of unleashing an attack on the officers.
He said the policemen were not complicit as the local guards wanted the public to believe.
“The cops were unjustly handcuffed, physically brutalized, and this has presently necessitated admission of the men in hospital – having been diagnosed of internal hemorrhage.”
“Facts of the incident is that the two Policemen went to Vigilante office with one Lucky and his girlfriend to merely seek the whereabouts of Ikpefua Idowu, who was arrested by John Osasere Ohonba, alas Awilo, and his group.
“It is pertinent to state that it is a known fact to Mr. Awilo and his group that the vehicle, Lexus RX330 SUV captured in the viral video belong to Lucky, a brother to the detained Ikpefua Idowu in the custody of Awilo and his Vigilante Group on whose behalf the Policemen went to sort for.
“Not minding the fact that the policemen introduced themselves and were identified by Awilo and his group, it was evident in the viral video that Mr. Awilo who wore a red jacket initiated and participated actively in the attack” he said.
