By Rita Enemuru, Reporting
ON 20 August 2025, a verified X user, Ridwan Oke, posted a video showing officials of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) assaulting a man, with the caption:
“These ones are also requesting to be armed. Just look at how supposedly trained officers are brutalising an unarmed citizen. You give these ones firearms and we have another problem in our hands.”
The viral post by Ridwan Oke
The video, which has garnered over 440,000 views alongside thousands of reposts, likes and comments, has continued to circulate widely across social media platforms including Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.
In addition to Oke, several other X, Facebook and Instagram users — such as Geereigns, @fineboykaynet and Osaro PhD Osu — have also recirculated the clip.
The X and Instagram posts
Following the circulation, Stonix News conducted a Google reverse image search and found that the video had been reposted on Instagram as a reel by Abdulazeez Abubakar on 19 August. However, checks revealed that the footage first surfaced in April 2020, when it initially went viral.
The Premium Times published story in 2020
Further investigation showed that the incident was reported by several news outlets at the time, including Premium Times, which stated that the FRSC officers involved were demoted for their actions, while the assaulted tricycle rider was prosecuted.
The Mail Newspaper publication in 2020
A 2020 report by TheMail Newspaper, posted on Facebook, explained that the officers were captured on video beating an undressed man identified as a tricycle rider.
The short version of the video
While the shorter version of the clip showing the officers assaulting the man went viral, TheMail Newspaper posted a longer version of the footage, which showed the rider first assaulting an officer before being beaten in retaliation.
The full report read in part:
“The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) operatives were caught on camera violently assaulting an unknown tricycle rider in a video that has since gone viral.
“The incident reportedly happened along the Benin–Sapele road in Benin, Edo State. In the clip, an undressed man is seen running helter-skelter before being placed on the bonnet of a car by FRSC officials and beaten severely.
“Onlookers are heard interjecting; some protesting and pleading with the officials to stop, while others cheer on the assault.
“Nigerians on Twitter initially condemned the act, questioning why FRSC officials had taken the law into their own hands. Following the outrage, FRSC issued a statement on social media explaining that the tricycle rider had instigated the confrontation.
“According to the statement, the man had attacked the officers, torn an officer’s uniform, broken a windscreen and damaged FRSC vehicles. The corps maintained that the officers acted in self-defence. While condemning violence, FRSC insisted it would not allow civilians to destroy official property or attack personnel.
“Some Nigerians commended FRSC for defending its officers, arguing that the full video showed the rider instigated the assault. Others, however, criticised the corps for failing to properly censure the violent actions of its men, stressing that lawlessness cannot be fought with lawlessness.”
Verdict: Reposting and recirculating the partial video as though it occurred recently, when in fact it happened five years ago, is misleading.
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