A policeman attached to the Special Investigation Bureau, Federal Capital Territory, Inspector Ajayi Oludare, has petitioned the FCT Commissioner of Police, Bala Ciroma, over an alleged unprovoked assault by his colleague, Inspector Lawson Nwasigozi.
Oludare stated that Nwasigozi of the Department Logistics Supply and Works attacked him with a piece of firewood at their Garki Barracks, Abuja residence.
In the petition dated January 29, 2021, the inspector explained that he nearly lost his life as he suffered head injuries from the heavy blows he received from Nwasigozi on November 28, 2019.
Narrating his ordeal, Oludare said he had just taken his bath and was returning from the common bathroom to his apartment when he saw Nwasigozi, who was his neighbour, moving towards him in a strange and violent manner.
He stated,” I stopped to allow him passage when I saw the way and manner Nwasigozi was coming. He hit me with his shoulder and I fell down and before I knew what was happening, he took a piece of heavy firewood used by his wife in cooking and smashed it on my head while on the ground.
“The attack caused brain injury. While lying on the ground in the pool of my own blood, he kept hitting me. When my family heard my dying voice, they rushed out of our apartment and shouted for help.
“I found myself at the Asokoro General Hospital when I regained consciousness. I realised during medical investigation that I had brain injuries four days after the incident.”
Explaining the cause of the attack, the petitioner said for over 10 years that they had been neighbours, Nwasigozi had always intimidated every occupant of the barracks, saying he was older than everybody and deserved to be accorded great respect.
But Nwasigozi denied the allegations, saying Oludare had always antagonised him and once threatened him with his service pistol.
He stated, “On November 28, 2019, I was walking down the passage when he tried to attack me with firewood. I blocked him but he hit me in the leg; I seized the wood from him and hit him in the head. Since the incident, I developed high blood pressure and there is no month I don’t go for check-up at the hospital.”
The FCT police spokesperson, ASP Mariam Yusuf, said the command was investigating the assault on Oludare.
