Danladi Umar, chairman of Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT), who was caught on video physically assaulting a security man at Banex Plaza, Wuse 2, Abuja, says the guard was “rude”.

In the viral video, Umar who was visibly angry was seen scolding a security man.

The CCT chairman also violently kicked the guard, before he was restrained and led into his car by police officers.

Reacting to the video in a statement on Tuesday, Ibraheem Al-Hassan, CCT spokesperson, said the security man was rude and had threatened Umar.

Narrating what transpired, Al-Hassan said the “altercations started over a parking lot which chairman met vacant, and it was directly opposite a shop where he wanted to make a purchase and to fix his phone”.

“When the young security guard sighted him, he ordered that the chairman should not park his car in that particular space.”

Al-Hassan said the security personnel could not provide a reasonable explanation why Umar could not park in the empty space.

He said although the tribunal chairman did not identify himself, “the boy was rude in his approach and threatened to deal with chairman if he refused to leave the scene.”

“Again, if the chairman had gone there to cause trouble or intimidate someone, as suggested, he would have gone there in his full official paraphernalia. But he went there alone with his younger brother,” the statement reads.

“The policemen seen in the video clip were not the chairman’s police team. They were policemen operating around the plaza, who at first instance intervened before the arrival of the police team from Maitama police station.”

Narrating further, he said a mob in the plaza started throwing machetes and sharp objects at Umar’s car, “which led to a deep cut and dislocation in one of his fingers, causing damage to his car and smashing his windscreen”.

“At the point he attempted to leave the scene, these same miscreants ordered for the closure of the gate, thereby assaulting him before the arrival of police team from Maitama police station,” Al-Hassan added.

The Cable