This is the moment a naked Nigerian man is arrested in the fountain of Rome’s Piazza Della Repubblica by truncheon-wielding cops.

The incident took place at the Fountain of the Naiads in the middle of Piazza Della Repubblica in the Italian capital Rome on the morning of 8th December after the suspect was first seen on Piazza dei Cinquecento.

According to the newspaper Corriere della Sera, the 22-year-old Nigerian citizen, name not reported, jumped into the fountain on the Piazza Della Repubblica while wearing only a pair of trainers and a red woolly hat.

The unusual took place at around 9.30am during the Catholic festival The Feast of the Immaculate Conception while many tourists and passersby were in the area.

Officers on the scene were reportedly challenged and threatened by the Nigerian man and eventually went into the freezing water to detain him.

In the footage, the man is seen standing on a sculpture in the fountain while apparently challenging police officers.

In another clip, the suspect is seen splashing officers with cold water before apparently attacking one advancing cop.

The truncheon-wielding officers then detain the man in the fountain and start to drag him out as the footage ends.

The suspect reportedly needed hospital treatment after the arrest and has since been taken to a police station to be held in custody as the investigation continues.