A craftsman has accused officers of the Anti-cultism Unit of the Rivers State Police Command of assaulting him for refusing to get hold of a man who ran past him while being chased by the policemen along SARS road in Rukpokwu, Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State.
The aggrieved iron bender identified as Promise Nwosi said he was left with a swollen face and injuries by the policemen.
Narrating the incident to newsmen in Port Harcourt, the state capital, Nwosi said he left home on Thursday morning to work at an estate along SARS road when the policemen who were hunting a man got to him and started beating him.
According to him, the officers had accused him of refusing to catch the fleeing man when he ran past him.
“I went to work this morning. It was raining. So, I went to have my hair cut. When I was done, I came out of the barbing salon (barber’s shop) to buy a recharge card.
“I started hearing noise saying ‘catch him, catch him. As I looked outside, it was the anti-cultism pursuing someone. The boy just ran past.
“The man (an officer) walked up to me where I stood and asked me why I didn’t get hold of the person they were pursuing?
“I responded that I don’t know what happened when I came to buy a card.
“He started beating me. I managed to ask what I did. He said I refused to catch the person they were after. I said I didn’t know what was going on.
“They used a gun to hit my eye and my body. My teeth are even hurting me too. I didn’t commit any offence,” he narrated.
He said when he reported the matter to the leader of the team, the officer threw a N1000 note at him to go get treatment.
Nwosi, who said he had lost his smart phone while he was being beaten said he wanted the policemen to be identified and made to face the law.
