PUNCH Metro had reported that Hunwathan said an argument ensued between him and the cop after she demanded N100 bribe from a taxi driver on Wednesday, October 26, 2022, at the Badagry Roundabout in the Badagry area of Lagos State.
The University of Lagos graduate said his wife just gave birth and he was looking for blood when the taxi he boarded was stopped by the woman, who allegedly threatened to impound the vehicle if the driver did not pay the bribe.
He said the cop turned on him when he refused to get down from the vehicle, adding that she held him, tore his clothes and threatened to deal with him.
But the Lagos Police Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin, claimed it was Hunwathan that assaulted the officer while she was performing her duty.
Hundeyin reacted to the allegations through his Twitter handle on Wednesday after initially declining response to enquiries by our correspondent.
In the thread, the police spokesman said the cop, identified as Anna Peter, was controlling traffic when she stopped a particular lane.
He alleged that Hunwathan, who was in one of the vehicles on the lane, got angry and assaulted the police officer because she ignored his lane.
“Angered at being ignored, Anu (Hunwathan) charged at the policewoman and dragged her off the front of his cab and off the road and asked the traffic policewoman to pass his lane because he was in a hurry.
“Immediately Anu saw blood on the policewoman’s arm, he panicked and took to his heels. He left Badagry Roundabout and stopped at Badagry Grammar School to make a video where he claimed the policewoman attacked him and tore his clothes.
“He equally said in the video that he would not report her conduct at the station but instead called on youths in the area to ‘come out.’
“The cab driver was at the station and made a statement narrating how Anu attacked the policewoman unprovoked. The driver is still willing to testify anytime the need arises. Till date, Anu Hunwathan has not contacted any police authority to seek ‘redress.,” he added.
Hunwathan, however, described Hundeyin’s claims as untrue and misrepresentation of events.
He insisted that he was assaulted by the policewoman, adding that he did not touch her.
“The policewoman only stopped the taxi, numbered LSR 108 HK, for N100 bribe. He did nothing against the law.
“She came boldly to me, with the kind of look of ‘spoiling her business,’ held me by the neck, pushed me and tore the new clothes I wore.
“I didn’t touch her with even my finger. I was not holding anything in my hand. Immediately she did that, I just went by the roadside to onlookers that were seated there, and said look at the embarrassment police has put me in my home town?
“Ben Hundeyin has come up here to make false allegations and to destroy my personality. Everyone that is familiar with me knows I cannot kill an ant. I am easy going. I am not moved by these. All I ask for is justice in my own country,” he added.
A human rights lawyer, Festus Ogun, described the action of the policewoman as a violation of the constitutional rights of the accountant.
Ogun insisted that it was illegal for a police officer to assault a civilian, no matter the situation.
