Lagos Police Break Silence on Papaya Ex’s Alleged Assault, Order Probe

The Lagos State Police Command has responded to allegations of assault levelled against its officers by popular Nigerian content creator, Papaya Ex, following a dramatic late-night encounter in Lagos.

Papaya Ex had, during a TikTok live session on Friday night, appeared with a bleeding face, alleging that police officers struck her with a gun, assaulted her and brutalised her driver while she was returning from a shoot. Though the alleged assault was not captured on the live video, she was seen with visible injuries, including a wound on her face.

Reacting to the claims, spokesperson of the command, Benjamin Hundeyin, narrated what he described as the police version of events.

According to him, the incident occurred shortly before 2 a.m. when officers on routine night patrol stopped a vehicle conveying three men and two women for checks.

“She bluntly refused, saying, ‘You cannot search my car. Don’t you know Papaya? Even your bosses know me,’” Hundeyin stated.

He explained that the content creator subsequently drove to the police station, with the patrol vehicle trailing behind. However, he alleged that she instructed her driver to speed off, forcing officers to radio another patrol team ahead to intercept the vehicle.

“At that rate, the patrol van was going to lose them, so the police had to radio the patrol team far ahead to intercept them. That was when the live session began,” he added.

Hundeyin assured that the command would handle the matter in line with due process, noting via its official handle that the police would “take it from here.”

The development has since sparked mixed reactions on social media, with calls for a thorough and transparent investigation into the circumstances surrounding the encounter.