The Network on Police Reforms in Nigeria
(NOPRIN) has condemned the seemingly promotion of Mr. Adekunle Awe, a
Superintendent of Police (SP) and then Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of
Onikan Police Division, who allegedly raped a 31- year-old female detainee in
his custody on April 15 2014.
According to the National Coordinator of
NOPRIN, Mr.
Okechukwu Nwanguma, rather than be reprimanded
for raping a female suspect while she was in his custody, Awe appeared to have
been congratulated, as latest findings reveals that he is presently the second
in Commander, in Area C Police Command, Surulere, Lagos. This is a great leap
from being a DPO when he allegedly raped the suspect.
The victim, Miss. Akinwunmi, accused
the DPO of rape while she was in his custody.
According to her, she was arrested
on a Tuesday about 1: am and the rape occurred on same day at about 10pm.
Miss. Akinwunmi said: “He said I should
wash, but I said no. He started shouting at me, saying he would make sure I and
my brothers go to jail. I went into his toilet. There was a bucket filled with
water. The water contained Dettol. I used it to wash.”
The then Inspector General of Police
(IGP), Mohammed Abubakar ordered the Lagos State Command to set up a panel to
look into the rape allegation. Since then, the case appeared to have been swept
under the carpet.
Nwanguma who revealed the latest on Awe,
while addressing journalists on ‘Police brutality and abuse persist,’ said: “As
you are aware, NOPRIN has been in the fore front of the campaign for justice in
this case, to ensure that it was not swept under the carpet.
“We recalled that the then police PRO
Lagos State Police Command, Ngozi
Braide, who was a member of the investigation team at the Lagos State Command,
had told journalists about two weeks after the incident that the outcome of police
investigation would be made public through a press conference.
“Today
nearly 12 months after the incident was exposed by NOPRIN through the
media, and contrary to promises by police authorities of impartial and
transparent investigation, the police are yet to make public the outcome of
their investigation which traversed three levels from Lagos State Police
Command, through Zone 2 to the Force Headquarters.”
He said that at intervals, NOPRIN
continued to raise the alarm over fears that the police were deliberately
delaying and prolonging investigation as a machination to wear out public
patience.
He opined: “The police want to sweep the
matter under the carpet once public interest subsided and public attention
shifted. The police are under a moral burden to convince us that this is not
what has happened eventually. Today, we are yet to know the outcome of police
investigations in this case.
“But we know that the suspected culprit,
former DPO Mr. Adekunle Awe, is still serving in Lagos State Command and
working free while his victim has been left to lick her psychological and
physical wounds. She has received no justice, despite losing her job, dignity
and reputation in the aftermath of the violent sexual abuse she suffered.”
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