A policeman throwing out the corporals’ belongings. Inset: Pedro Police Barracks.
Two
police corporals, Ebi Egor and Peter, were on Wednesday forcibly
evicted from their apartments at Pedro police barracks, Somolu, Lagos.
The eviction was said to have been ordered by a Deputy Inspector General
of Police of G department, Mr. Abdulrahman Akano.
Two weeks ago, Akano allegedly visited the barracks while on an inspection tour of police stations and barracks in the state.
“As Akano approached Block two, we could
hear music blaring loudly from one of the apartments. Akano enquired
from his entourage the identity of the person who lived in the
apartment. Egor was at home and was brought before Akano. To the
surprise of everyone present, Akano ordered that he be ejected from his
apartment.
“At another block, the same incident
repeated itself. This time though, it was Peter’s 13-year-old brother
who was home listening to sport news blaring out from the radio. Annoyed
at the development, Akano ordered that Peter too be ejected from his
apartment,” a source within the barracks, said.
PUNCH Metro gathered that those
who witnessed the incident pleaded with Akano to show mercy. Some of the
women, who were home at the time, allegedly went on their knees before
Akano, pleading with him to change his mind.
It came as a shock to everyone when a
letter arrived from the office of the Lagos State Commissioner of
Police, Mr. Umar Manko, on March 14, ordering that the affected
occupants leave their apartments before March 20.
“No reason was given for the eviction
other than that the apartments had been assigned to other policemen. The
corporals in question tried everything they could, including appeals to
the Area H commander to intervene on their behalf. They were told to
comply with the directive as the order was beyond the purview of either
the Area H commander or Manko,” the source said.
In carrying out the eviction order, five
policemen on Wednesday, stormed the Pedro police barracks at about
noon. They were said to be from the provost department of the Lagos
State Police Command. Egor and Peter were not at home at the time. Their
children were also said to be at school and their wives were also said
to have gone out.
At the time, it was only women who were
said to be present at the barracks and a few other policemen. Although
the general feeling was one of anger and disappointment, those present
felt helpless.
“It is just unfortunate that a police
officer can be doing this to his subordinate. I don’t know where these
men and their families are expected to live now. It is not as if they
are from Lagos state. They were both working elsewhere before their
redeployment to Lagos.
“Playing loud music is no offence; that
is barracks life for you. Besides, those of us living in the barracks
were unaware anyway that Akano was arriving that day for inspection,”
the source lamented.
Egor’s wife who was away at the market
returned home to discover that they had indeed being evicted. She was
said to have immediately recorded the incident with her phone.
“In a strange twist, we were surprised
to hear from the provost office later in the day that both families
could go back into their apartments as they had been given another two
weeks of grace. We were told that information had got to them that
Egor’s wife had recorded events with her phone and that was why they
had a change of heart,” the source said.
All attempts to get a response from the
spokesperson of the Nigeria Police Force, CSP Frank Mba, proved abortive
as he did not reply the calls or text messages to his telephone.
PUNCH
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