Policeman Beats Up A Soldier Who Refused To Use Face Mask In Benin

A joint police squad of officers from the Nigerian Security and Civil Defense Corps reportedly beat up a soldier for not wearing face masks in Benin City, Edo State.

On Saturday, May 9, 2020, there was a chaos in Lagos Lane, Benin City, just 24 hours after the state government shut down the lane to all business activities due to alleged refusal by street traders and residents to comply with the directives to engage in the ongoing Coronavirus screening and testing exercise as part of efforts to contain the pandemic.

Trouble began when Police and NSCDC officials asked the unidentified soldier who was on the street to put on his face mask.

The soldier who was on military khaki short had a handkerchief on his back, and his wife had not properly put on her face mask, according to an eyewitness who spoke with us.

“On entering Lagos Street, the soldier and his wife were asked to wear their face mask by the policemen on duty. The soldier brought his ID card to identify himself but the police officer dismissed the ID card as fake.

“The soldier got infuriated when one of the police officer pushed his wife with a gun in a bid to force her to wear the face mask.

“Following the argument that ensued, the policemen descended on the soldier and injured him on the head with the butt of their gun,” he said.

Traders and passers-by were forced to flee in separate directions, as Nigerian Army men who later stormed the area were reportedly shot in the air repeatedly to scare police and NSCDC officers.