However, as they approached the fourth checkpoint, the nurse revealed that a police officer hurled a stick at the motorcycle's tyre, causing them to crash to the ground.

Prince Aremu Okikiola, Chairman of the National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives (NANNM), General Hospital Ode-Irele Unit, has accused the Nigerian Police in Ondo State of attempting to cover up and protect an officer who allegedly assaulted a nurse, Mrs. Modupe Ajama, while she was on emergency duty during the COVID-19 curfew imposed by the state government.

Okikiola strongly condemned the actions of the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) in the area, accusing him of spreading falsehoods to exonerate the officer responsible for the incident, which left Mrs. Ajama incapacitated.

Mrs. Modupe Ajama, a registered nurse at Ode-Irele General Hospital, said she received an emergency call at about 8:20 p.m. on April 22, 2020, requesting her presence to assist with a childbirth at the hospital. While on her way to respond to the emergency, she was allegedly brutalized by a police officer enforcing the curfew.

Narrating the ordeal, she said, “I was at home when I received an emergency call from a colleague in the hospital where I work to come assist a pregnant woman who was in labour to deliver a set of twins.

“I was to receive the babies from the theatre and resuscitate them as one was in distress.

“The motorcyclist who carried me met police checkpoint along the way. I explained to the policemen that I was a nurse working with the General Hospital in Irele and that I had my identification card and was called to rescue an emergency situation at the hospital.

"I was released to go but met a second checkpoint. The second checkpoint released me, same with the third."

However, as they approached the fourth checkpoint, the nurse revealed that a police officer hurled a stick at the motorcycle's tyre, causing them to crash to the ground.

She said, "Both the bike rider and I fell off, the motorcycle skidded, dragging us both on the asphalt to the left side of the road.

"The police officer, who threw the stick came closer with a gun, and I begged him to please take me to the hospital as I needed to be attended to, but he just left us and said, ‘Good for you, God catch you.’

"The policemen at the second checkpoint saw the accident and what transpired and moved closer. At that point, I had already called the hospital, informing them about my situation.

"The other policemen got a motorcycle rider to take me to the hospital for treatment.”

Prince Aremu said, “We want justice to prevail, because the police are hiding so many things. They said they are working with the community policing volunteers, and the person who assaulted the nurse was among them.

He expressed deep concern over the conduct of the police, questioning the legality of community policing personnel carrying rifles. “I don’t know where the community policing personnel carry rifles; this is against the law, and now the police are trying to shift the blame away from them,” he said.

According to him, both the Commander in charge of the checkpoints and the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) were aware of the officer responsible for throwing the stick, yet they were making efforts to shield the culprit. He insisted that justice must prevail, stressing that the safety of health workers should not be compromised.

He added that the ordeal had already been reported to both the state and national leadership of the National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives (NANNM).

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