Shedrack Jacobs, a native of Delta State, has told FIJ he fears for his life after Bright Edafe, the police spokesman in Delta State, issued a threat to him on Sunday via X.
On Tuesday, Jacobs told FIJ he had read several articles on how policemen abducted dissenting voices.
“I can’t eat or sleep,” he said. “Any sound around my house now scares me.”
On Sunday afternoon, the Delta State Police Command issued a statement announcing an immediate enforcement of third-party motor vehicle insurance.
Reacting to this post, Jacobs posted two pictures of police operational vehicles and captioned it, ‘Let’s start with these ones… Charity should begin at home.’
Edafe responded to Jacobs via his personal X account @Brightgoldenboy, writing: “Until hand meet you.”
Edafe’s reaction to Jacobs’ X post
The response generated windespread criticism, as several X users knocked the policeman for his choice of words.
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“I just wanted the police to improve their own vehicles before going after motorists,” Jacobs told FIJ. “It was just a pure tweet to raise awareness. No malice intended, even though he had blocked me many months ago.
“I an scared because even after blocking me, he was still able to respond to my innocent tweet and threaten me.”
When FIJ contacted Edafe via WhatsApp, he denied threatening Jacobs.
“You can ask him for my comment and read. Check if it constitutes any threat,” Edafe said.
When FIJ asked him what he intended to communicate on X, he said, “When he [Jacobs] is caught without the third-party vehicle insurance he can ask the policemen the question he was asking. That’s all.”
FIJ also spoke with the Police Complaints Response Unit (CRU). They said Jacobs, who now lives in Lagos, could petition the Inspector General of Police (IGP)’s office to investigate the matter.
When Jacobs learnt of this, he said he would be following it up and would feel safer if the police boss probed the spokesman’s actions.
The post ‘I’m Scared for My Life’, Says Man After Delta Police PRO said ‘Hand Will Touch You’ appeared first on Foundation For Investigative Journalism.