Military officers, acting on the orders of Ebonyi State governor, Dave Umahi, pummelled state civil servants with sticks for allegedly resuming late to work on Tuesday.

In a video by activist Chidi Odinkalu, Mr Umahi was seen handing sticks to the soldiers and ordering them to beat up the civil servants in Abakaliki.

“So, today in Ebonyi, @GovDaveUmahi went for a project inspection & then instructed the soldiers to flog – yes flog! – civil servants who arrived late. Not done, Dave Umahi supervised the flogging. Tomorrow, he’ll be rewarded with a seat in @NGRSenate,” tweeted Mr Odinkalu Tuesday evening.

Mr Umahi oversaw the beating while wearing a white Polo, hat, and mask. He most likely kicked several of the workers, who had been told to lie down on the road, as evidenced by the movement of his lower limb restricted by the road barrier.

His hand coordination suggested that he was directing the soldiers to hit specific parts of the public servants’ bodies.  

The video has stirred the collective outrage of citizens who likened Mr Umahi to the ferocious late Ugandan military dictator Idi Amin.

The governor did not immediately return requests seeking comments on the matter.