Officers of the Nigeria Police and Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) have been engaged in a public brawl in Osogbo, the capital of Osun State, allegedly inflicting injuries on themselves while brandishing guns.

A video sighted by The Guardian showed some men wearing mufti with jackets bearing “Police” inscriptions beating up a uniformed civil defence officer and tearing his uniform, even as the NSCDC operative made efforts to defend himself before he was rescued on Tuesday night.

However, the civil defence officer was later arrested by the police after its officers called for reinforcement the next day, Wednesday, October 23, 2024, over the alleged refusal by the civil defence operatives to allow police officers to arrest a suspect at Elizabeth Estate in Osogbo.

Meanwhile, the Police and NSCDC commands in Osun have accused each other of brutality while giving different narratives of the incidents.

While the NSCDC, in a statement issued on Friday by its Public Relations Officer, Kehinde Adeleke, claimed that the police officers assaulted its operative, inflicted injuries on him, and caused him bodily harm, the Police spokesperson, Yemisi Opalola, alleged that the civil defence personnel beat up and injured two police officers and deflated the tyres of their vehicle.

Adeleke said, “A disturbing incident of barbaric police brutality occurred on Tuesday, October 22, 2024, around 8 PM, at Elizabeth Estate in Osogbo, Osun State, when a group of individuals claiming to be police officers in ‘ankara’ cloth with only jackets on top drove recklessly into the estate with a private Sienna vehicle, entered the estate, which is secured by the personnel of Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Osun State Command, to purportedly arrest a suspect.

“The personnel of NSCDC on duty, as trained officers, requested means of identification, which the individuals who claimed to be policemen failed to provide. Instead, they resorted to intimidation. After their failure to identify themselves, they left the premises of the estate.

“The situation escalated the following day, Wednesday, October 23, 2024, when a group of police officers numbering about twenty (20) drove into the estate and descended on one NSCDC personnel, physically assaulting him and inflicting grievous bodily harm on him. The video of the incident is attached to the statement.

“The officer’s uniform was torn, he was brutalised beyond description, disarmed, handcuffed like a common criminal, and forcefully taken to Ataoja Division before being moved to the Police State Headquarters.

“Efforts to resolve the issue amicably were made by the Commandant of NSCDC, Osun State Command, Dr. Michael Adaralewa, who raised a team of senior officers who visited the Police Headquarters. However, the police refused to release the detained NSCDC personnel. They concocted unfounded lies of deflation of their vehicle tyres. When the team asked if the same vehicle was still at the scene, they said no. Then the questions we asked were if any vulcanizer fixed the tyres. “No” was the answer. The team also demanded to know if the vehicle was towed. The answer was also negative. The big question then is how did the vehicle that conveyed the policemen leave the incident scene?

“Unfortunately, despite assurances by the police team that immediately NSCDC confirmed the identity of the officer in their custody, he would be released, a confirmation letter was taken to the police state headquarters, yet they never released him since Wednesday, October 23, 2024. He was just released this afternoon, today, Friday, 25th, after he had been made to undergo more humiliating treatment in the hands of policemen on duty.

“The Osun NSCDC boss, Michael Adaralewa, therefore, calls for a thorough investigation into the matter and for the perpetrators to be brought to book. “We demand there should be no sacred cow in the matter, and we are not going to allow the matter to be swept under the rug.”

Opalola explained that policemen came from Oyo State on investigation activities to an estate in Osogbo to arrest a suspected criminal, adding: “They met civil defence personnel guarding the place who prevented them from arresting the criminal, and in the process, beat up and injured two police officers and deflated the tyres of their vehicle.

“The policemen thereafter called for reinforcement from the nearest division around the place. Upon arrival of the reinforcement, the policemen were rescued, and one of the civil defence personnel who assaulted the police officers and prevented them from performing their lawful duty was arrested and taken to State CID for investigation. Investigation is continuing, please.”