A young man is reportedly fighting for his life at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) after allegedly being chased into a canal by police officers in the Ipaja area of Lagos.
The incident, which occurred on Wednesday, October 16, was shared on social media by an X user, Omorhemi, who posted a viral video on Thursday. According to Omorhemi, the victim was pursued by plain-clothed policemen at the Federal Bus Stop along the Ipaja Ayobo axis. The post alleged that the officers accused the man of being a ‘Yahoo boy’ due to his tattoos and threatened to shoot him. The victim, who was on a bike, attempted to flee after the accusation, leading to a chase that ended in him falling into a canal.
“Yesterday morning, police chased my friend’s husband until he fell into the canal. They took his slippers and the money that fell, then left when people started shouting,” Omorhemi recounted in the video. She added that the man is currently unconscious at LASUTH.
The video shows an elderly man retrieving the victim from the canal, aided by two others who helped pull him to safety. The narrator in the video, speaking in Yoruba, described how the young man was pursued by the alleged police officers before he ended up in the water.
In response to the viral post, Lagos State Police Command spokesperson SP Benjamin Hundeyin stated that the police had not yet received any official report of the incident. “Since we saw this video, we have been making concerted efforts to verify this claim, but nothing has turned up yet. We have checked our records, and no report has been made till now,” Hundeyin said in a statement on his verified X handle.
Despite this, Hundeyin assured that investigations were underway, with the Area Commander personally handling the case. “Anyone with additional and useful information should please reach out to us. We will keep the public updated on our findings,” he added.
