The police authorities warned against attack on their officers.

Police in Delta State, south-south Nigeria, have spoken about the 9 March assault on a police officer by officials of the Nigerian Navy who invaded a police facility in the state.

PREMIUM TIMES, relying on a clip posted on Twitter, had reported the incident which happened in Enerhen, near Warri.

The one-minute 30 seconds clip showed the assaulted officer moving about restlessly inside the premises of the police station, surrounded by angry colleagues who were appealing to him to stay calm.

His face was bloodied and his police uniform was partially torn.

The police spokesperson in the state, Bright Edafe, in a statement on Sunday, said 15 naval ratings were involved in the officer's assault.

He said the attack was led by a rating, Kevwe Ejaita, who had had an altercation a previous day with the officer they later came to beat up in the police station.

"The DPO Enerhen Division promptly responded with his men, and the attack was successfully repelled while the said Kevwe Ejaita, who was the arrowhead of the group, was arrested.

"The Naval authority in Warri on being informed of the situation detailed a team of Naval Police personnel to proceed to the Division. The arrested Naval Rating was released to the navy authority on request for necessary disciplinary action. The injured police sergeant was taken to the hospital for treatment and later discharged," Mr Edafe, a deputy superintendent of police, said in the statement.

The police in Delta State were working with naval authorities to forestall a reoccurrence of such an incident, the statement said.

The statement said the Commissioner of Police in Delta State, Muhammed Ali, condemned the action of the naval ratings and warned that "assault on police officers while performing their lawful duties by anyone will not be tolerated".