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From Gyang Bere, Jos
For Plateau State residents, it was a strange development. An operative of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCD), who was trained to provide security for citizens, allegedly turned a terror and flogged an innocent woman, Mrs. Joy Owolabi, for no justifiable reason.
The armed security agent, whose identity was yet to be unraveled at the time of this report, had visited a betting shop close to Mrs. Awolabi’s shop around Nanmwa Junction, Abbatoir community, in Jos South Local Government Area of Plateau State, and parked his motorcycle without considering other road users within the vicinity.
He returned with his armed colleague on Friday September 2 and parked the same motorcycle in a similar manner, blocking the entrance to her shop.
Mrs. Awolabi approached him and requested that he should repark his motorcycle to make room for easy movement into her shop, but he ignored her for hours while he concentrated on his game. This led to exchange of words.
Sadly, when he lost the betting game, which he invested heavily in with the hope to make huge returns, he became violent.
The officer allegedly insulted and humiliated the innocent woman. As if that wasn’t bad enough, he descended on the woman and hit her on the eye with the butt of his rifle. Not yet done, he threw heavy punches at her and she fell to the ground.
It created a scene where everybody in the neighborhood came to have a glimpse of the woman, who was lying helplessly on the ground while the NCSDC officer flogged her and no one came to her rescue because of his weapon.
The NCSDC officer continued punching and kicking the woman until he heard that her husband was on his way to the scene. So, he quickly jumped on his motorcycle and left the scene.
Mrs. Awolabi, who narrated her heart-rending experience, said nobody had the courage to come to her rescue because of fear.
She said: “I was in my shop in the afternoon of September 2 when I saw two men in uniform; they were from the Nigerian Security and Civil Defense Corps and they rode towards my shop on a motorcycle. One stood by the roadside and the second one came to the entrance of my shop.
“They came with an official motorcycle. When the man parked and blocked the entrance of my shop, I went and met him. I said, Please, help me repark this motorcycle because the way you parked, I cannot enter the shop.
“My neighbour who is the manager also came out and saw the way the man parked the motorcycle. He started pleading with the man to repark, as we were talking, the man punched me in my left eye and I fell to the ground.
“As I was trying to stand up, he punched me in the second eye. He removed wire and started flogging me. They were armed so people were afraid of coming to my rescue and when this thing was going on, people were just watching.
“After flogging me, the two of them left with the motorcycle. When they left, I locked my shop and went to their office, which is not far from my shop and reported the issue.”
Mercy John, a resident, who was furious over the the evil and unacceptable misbehaviour, called for serious action against the deliberate and wicked action of the officer.
She noted that some security personnel in the past had harassed and humiliated people without any stringent measures taken against them, which has emboldened others to act any way they like.
She said: “I think this officer deserves to be punished seriously to serve as deterrent to others. This is what most civilians are faced with in the society; the security men have abandoned their responsibility and are taking advantage of helpless civilians to unleash their anger and frustration. He deserves to be punished publicly.”
Plateau State commandant of the NSCDC, Alexander Bissa Barunde, condemned the act and regretted the humiliation meted by the officer on Mrs. Owolabi.
Barunde, in a press statement signed by the public relations officer of the corps, C.M. Longbit, expressed worry over the unfortunate incident and described it as barbaric and unacceptable.
“The attention of Plateau State Command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) has been drawn to a publication in the media about an unfortunate and regrettable incident of assault on one Mrs. Joy Owolabi, a shop owner around the Nanmwa Junction of Abbatoire in Jos, Plateau State, allegedly by a personnel of the corps.
“Worried by this unfortunate incident, the state commandant, Alexander Bissa Barunde, who described the incident as barbaric, unfortunate, regrettable and uncivilised, has since directed a full investigation into the matter to ascertain the real identity of the suspect,” the statement said.
The state commandant assured the general public that he would invoke internal disciplinary mechanisms of the corps to deal with the officer involved in the assault against a harmless and helpless woman.
He condemned the act and wondered why an officer of the command would condescend to the point of inflicting bodily harm on a woman under any circumstances.
Barunde affirmed the NCSDC’s commitment to the protection of life and property of citizens, stating that this was just an isolated case of an overzealous officer and the matter would be pursued to a logical conclusion, and the concerned officer brought to book.
While apologising to the family of the woman concerned, he assured them that the matter would not be swept under the carpet and decisive action would be taken against the culprit as soon as the outcome of the investigation is made available to him and the culprit identified.
He warned that he would not condone any indiscipline from any officer of the command and charged them to remain civil while carrying out their duties.
He cautioned his personnel to be professional and to respect the fundamental human rights of the citizens because, henceforth, any report of human rights abuse would attract stringent punishment.
