A uniformed police officer begs in the dust, hands shielding his face, voice cracking as he pleads “Please sir, Abeg!” Around him, furious traders swing fists, belts, and sticks. The 66-second clip, filmed in a crowded Nigerian market on Wednesday December 10, 2025, has already racked up hundreds of thousands of views and sparked heated debate online.
Eyewitnesses claim the officer snatched a phone from a vendor’s stall. In the chaos, someone spots him clutching a black object, possibly the missing handset and the crowd explodes. No one waits for proof. Within seconds the man in uniform is on the ground, eating blows while begging for his life. Miraculously, the beating stops short of a lynching; he staggers away bloodied but alive.
The Nigeria Police Force has stayed silent so far, but the footage has reopened raw wounds about corruption and instant “jungle justice” that many Nigerians feel is their only defence against crooked cops.
Just five days earlier, in Taraba State, another policeman, Inspector Philemon Ayuba wasn’t so lucky to escape the mob quickly. Accused of beating his 11-year-old nephew to death over missing ₦60,000 and burying the boy in a shallow grave, Ayuba was dragged out and thrashed until colleagues fired warning shots to rescue him. He later confessed, even helping dig up the decomposing body himself.
Two officers, two beatings, one week apart. Both stories spread like wildfire on X, both exposing the same painful truth: trust between Nigerians and the police they fund is broken beyond quick repair.
While rights groups beg citizens to let courts do their job, many online are asking the uncomfortable question - who watches the watchers when the watchers keep stealing, or worse?
As the market officer really guilty? Will the murdered boy in Taraba ever get justice? For now, the videos keep playing, and the anger keeps growing.
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