The Lagos State Police Command has opened an investigation into a viral video showing a police officer being beaten by a mob over an alleged case of stealing.
The video, which spread widely online on Wednesday, showed the officer sitting on the ground with blood on his face while a crowd shouted at him and recorded the scene with their phones. The officer looked scared and kept pleading as people continued to accuse him of theft, though the exact offence was not clear at the time of this report.
In the clip, another officer later pushed through the crowd in an attempt to rescue the injured officer. Commercial buses, tricycles, and pedestrians were seen moving around the busy Lagos area where the incident happened, and a yellow danfo with the name Ayedade written on it appeared in the footage.
People in the crowd could be heard shouting “Ole!” which means thief in Yoruba.
Reacting to the video, the spokesperson for the Lagos State Police Command, Abimbola Adebisi, said the command had begun trying to confirm what happened and identify the officer involved.
Adebisi wrote on X, “The command has seen the viral video. We are investigating to determine the full circumstances and confirm the identity of the officer. Updates will follow soon.”
The police have repeated several times that members of the public must not take the law into their own hands. They stressed that any allegation, whether against a civilian or a security officer, must be handled through proper legal processes.
It will be recalled that in September 2025, police arrested eighteen people in Plateau State over the killing of a police officer known as Inspector Jeremiah and a suspect during a mob attack in Bassa Local Government Area. According to reports, the mob assault happened when officers tried to arrest a suspect accused of intimidation, trespass, and farm encroachment.
