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Police officer suspended in UK after kneeling on a black man’s neck

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Police officer suspended in UK after kneeling on a black man’s neck

The London Police Force has suspended a yet-to-be named police officer after a video footage of him kneeling on the side of a Black suspect’s head and neck emerged on the internet.

Reports say the police officer has been suspended pending an investigation after footage of the arrest in north London on Thursday showed two officers holding down the handcuffed man.

In the viral video clip, one of the white officers appears to be applying pressure to the man’s neck with his knee. The officer’s hand is on the head of the man, who is on a pavement on his side.

Another officer of East Asian ethnicity assisted in the restraint.

“Get off me … get off my neck,” the struggling man can be heard shouting in the video that appeared on social media. “I haven’t done anything wrong, get off my neck.”

One of the two officers asks, “Are you going to behave yourself?” He is told to stay down.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan called for a swift and thorough investigation of what he described as a “distressing” incident after the Metropolitan Police referred the incident for investigation by the UK’s independent police watchdog.

READ ALSO: UK varsity appoints Nigerian as Vice-Chancellor

“The video footage that I have seen today and is circulating on social media is extremely disturbing,” Metropolitan Police Deputy Commissioner Steve House said in a statement on Friday.

“Some of the techniques used cause me great concern – they are not taught in police training.”

This came days after a Non Governmental Organization, NGO, LoveAfricans Organization, decided to revisit the case of Mr. Frank Obameriata Ogboru, a Nigerian national who died in police custody in the UK.

The NGO recently launched a fresh campaign tagged #justiceforogboru and petitioned the Southwark Coroner’s Court for a copy of the inquisition/record of inquest on behalf of the deceased wife and family, seeking justice for Ogboru.

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