Four South African police officers arrested for assaulting Nigerian citizen

Four South African police officers were on Wednesday, arrested for allegedly assaulting a Nigerian citizen and beating him into a state of coma.

According to an official of the Nigerian consulate, Elizabeth Wale-Ayodele, the said assault occurred on January 9 in the Boksburg province.

Wale-Ayodele said the cops were arrested on Wednesday and have been detained at the Boksburg North Police Station by the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID).

The four officers, according to the Consulate spokeswoman, were arrested in connection with the assault on the Nigerian and are facing “charges of assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and defeating the ends of justice.”

“The arrest of the police officers followed a complaint lodged by the consulate on the assault, which have incapacitated the victim,” she said in a statement.

“Two weeks ago, 9th January, 2023, a Nigerian was assaulted in Boksburg by four policemen. We received this at the consulate and immediately, the Consul General, Mr Andrew Idi, was here two weeks ago to pay the victim a visit.

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“He (the victim) was assaulted, thoroughly beaten, even when he complained of having kidney issues. He fell into a coma and was in a coma for nine days.

“So when he came out of the coma, the CG was here to visit him and we opened the case with the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID). The consulate has followed up the case up till this moment. We are happy to see this happen. We are happy to see that Nigerians are not assaulted and perpetrators go scot-free,” she added.

Wale-Ayodele added that the policemen who assaulted the Nigerian, were said to have demanded the identification papers of the victim and his friends.

Also confirming the arrest of the officers, spokesperson for the IPID, Lizzy Suping, said the victim was arrested and taken to the police station when he could not produce the required documents.

She said he was subsequently assaulted and tortured by the officers at the police station and was taken to the hospital, where he was in a coma for nine days.

Suping said the suspects would be arraigned at the Boksburg Magistrates’ Court on Thursday.

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