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Lockdown: Police demote officer for assaulting medical doctor
As the lockdown in Akwa Ibom remain active, the Nigerian police have demoted an officer for assaulting a medical doctor.
Daniel Edet, who is a surgeon with the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital, was on his way to work on Friday evening when he was stopped by a police sergeant, Edidiong Alexander, who was on duty to enforce the stay-at-home order of the Akwa Ibom government because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Health workers are among those exempted from the restriction order in Akwa Ibom.
Both men were said to have had an altercation which led to the police officer assaulting the doctor.
The Nigerian Medical Association in the state had threatened to embark on a strike over the incident. They said Mr Edet’s hand was fractured by the officer.
The police in the state responded to the incident by arresting and getting the erring officer to face an administrative trial, the police spokesperson, Nnudam Fredrick, said in a statement on Saturday.
The officer, Mr Alexander, was found guilty and demoted from the rank of a sergeant to corporal, the statement said.
The commissioner of police in the state met with Mr Edet and the chairman of NMA in the state, and apologised to the surgeon and the medical doctors in Akwa Ibom over the conduct of the police officer.
The police commissioner appealed to doctors to continue to work with the police in the state to check the spread of the coronavirus.
There are five confirmed cases of the coronavirus in Akwa Ibom state.
