CP orders trial of officer threatening residents with gun in viral video

The Commissioner of Police (CP) in Edo, Mr Funsho Adegboye, has ordered an orderly room trial of Police Constable Prince Chima for allegedly threatening some people with a gun at their residence.

NEWSVERGE reports that the video of where Chima was caught in the act went viral on Sunday on the X social media platform.

In a statement issued on Saturday by the command’s spokesperson, SP Chidi Nwabuzor, the CP had called for a discreet investigation into the matter, leading to the arrest of the officer.

“Sequel to a viral video sighted on X handle on the 7th of April 2024 where a young man that wore a blue T-shirt, black joggers’ trousers, and blue palm slippers was seen alone threatening with violence some persons in their residence with an AK-47 rifle.

“Immediately, the Commissioner of Police, Edo State Command, CP Funsho Adegboye, mni called for a discreet investigation into the matter.

“During the investigation, the police operatives, while using technical intelligence, arrested the young man, and he was identified as a Police Constable attached to the Department of Operatives (DOP).

“Consequently, during interrogation, he affirmatively stated as follows that he is Force Number 534023 PC Prince Chima,” said the police spokesman.

Nwabuzor noted that the officer was enlisted on Jan. 10, 2020, and was deployed to the South-South Deputy National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Chima, according to the spokesperson, said he was on duty at NIPCO, along Siluko Road, where he had an altercation with a young man who came to charge his phone.

The man, he said, called him a smelling policeman.

The spokesman said when the man left the petrol station for his residence, after the intervention of the station’s manager, the officer followed him home.

It was at home the incident displayed in the viral video took place.

Nwabuzor said the CP had directed the Assistant Commissioner of Police in charge of the X-Squad Section to investigate the erring policeman.

His mental health status was to be ascertained through the command’s medical officer and committed to a disciplinary process known as Orderly Room Trial.

The CP, said the spokesman, commended the threatened people for their patience and tactfulness in handling the situation, promising that the erring officer would face the consequences of his actions.