A US-based Nigerian man, who returned to Lagos for the Christmas holiday, shared a traumatising video purportedly showing police officers brutalizing him and his friends.
In the video, which wasn’t very clear since it happened at night, Taylor and his friends can be heard arguing with men believed to be police officers.
Taylor said he and his friends were on their way back from the beach last night, January 8, when the officers stopped and asked to search their car. He said they were accused of being Yahoo boys and were rough handled.
Taylor said they were “beaten”, treated like “criminals” and were bleeding by the time the officers were done with them.
In the video, Taylor and his friends are seen asking the officers what they had done but the officers didn’t give a reason, instead, they turned violent when they realized they were being filmed.
They are heard struggling for the phone and asking that the video be deleted, but Taylor told them it was a live stream.
Sharing the video to Instagram, Taylor said:
Change! Change! Change!
Complete change in every sector is what is needed in Nigeria.What seemed like perfect vacation almost ended in tragedy last night.
Heading home last night after a fun last night was ruined by one of my biggest fears as a black man; Police brutality.
On Monday 6th of January 2020 morning, at about 2am, I was heading home from Moist beach after a fun night out with a couple of my friends @gabrielanthonys @drewbaba @tissiekholors . Some policemen stopped our car abruptly without telling us what our offense was.
They rushed to the back seat and started dragging us out of the vehicle. One of the them started saying “they are yahoo boys, take their phones”. Scared, worried & frightened as I was, I did the smart thing of bringing out my phone to record the bullying and harassment from the men in uniform.
I was dragged on the floor, hit on the back and even started bleeding from my hands and other parts of my body that were bruised.
In that moment I wondered what I had done wrong to be treated like a criminal and fearful thoughts ran through me like a wave of electricity . One of the police officers even fired his gun.
What if it had hit me?
What if it had landed on any of my friends?
How would have my family and our loved ones cope with the trauma?A fun filled vacation turned to a bloody nightmare.
I had to beg strangers passing by to intervene but you trust Nigerian people to drive off as far it doesn’t concern them but it definitely does and it’s us to each and everyone of us to say something stand up for our rights.
I’m just glad I left the situation with my life and just an injury on my hand and some bruises.I saw blood. My shirt was stained but I am glad my life and my friends weren’t taken away. I was very traumatized.
I hear and see it happen a lot online but on this day I wasn’t just a spectator, I was the actor in the tragic movie of hostility.I took some days off social media to recuperate and heal.
Thank you to everyone who reached out.
Thank you for your calls, texts and messages and giving me information on what I should do next time in case it happens again.
To anyone going to Lagos,Nigeria PLEASE BE CAREFUL
