When the Lagos State Commissioner of
Police, Mr. Fatai Owoseni came onboard as the number one policeman in the
state, he has spread out his aces on the table. One of the aces is to ensure a
good relationship between the police and citizens of the state.
This, he was sure, would endear the
police to residents of Lagos. According to him, “Image is important.”
But a horrifying event, which occurred
on Sunday at the Katagua Market area of Oke-Odo, Lagos, may have dealt a heavy
blow to Owoseni’s grand plan.
Three businessmen, Thomas Adeoye, Sikiru
Omolade and Gafaru Raheem are presently singing and alleging that policemen
attached to the Oke-Odo Police Station tortured them, to the point that one of
them became unconscious. He disclosed that Omolade and Raheem are still in
hospital because of the beating they received from the policemen.
Adeoye recalled: “The three of us were
brought out for brutal corporal punishment. The policemen ordered us to strip and
used a thick electric cable to flog us. It was the most bizarre experience I
had ever had. The torture lasted for three hours. One of us fainted and some
people ran to alert the Babaloja that some Yoruba people were going to be
killed at the police post. They said they wanted us to have wounds to show our
children!”
Adeoye said this torture started because
he and his friends refused to part with N200.
One of the policemen was alleged to have said that the N200 was for,
“parking space.”
Adeoye noted: “I’ve been going to that market
for over 15 years and had never paid for parking space!”
The men fingered their tormentors as corporal
Babangida, Francis Adinga and other policemen, all attached to Oke-Odo Station.
Adeoye, the Chief Executive Officer of
Thomas Adeoye Nigeria Limited, located at Ijegun, Ikotun, described the
experience as, “agonising and dehumanizing.”
He stated that all he wanted now was
justice. Justice to him means, the policemen being investigated and prosecuted.
Recollecting how his ordeal and that of
his associates started on August 16, 2015, Adeoye said: “It all started after I
drove to Katangua Area of Oke-Odo, Lagos State in my Nissan XTERRA car to
purchase some parts for the repair of one of my trucks that had broken down. I
went in the company of my two associates. We had finished the transaction in
the market and came out. We boarded the car and were driving off, when a man in
mufti appeared and flagged us down.
“He demanded for N200 which he said was
for the space I parked. I told him that I was sorry that the last N200 I had
with me, had been given to the truck pusher that carried my goods to my car.”
Adeoye said that after the explanation,
he had once again tried to drive off, but the man suddenly ran to stand in
front of his car.
“I thought he was an area boy. He didn’t
introduce himself and wasn’t in uniform. He wasn’t even carrying a gun. He just
jumped in the front of the car. It wasn’t by force to give money. I wasn’t
indebted to him. He was delaying us. I started rolling the car. He jumped to
the driver side of the car, lunged in through the window and snatched my two
phones from the dashboard,” Adeoye recounted.
Adeoye continued his narration: “As he
took my two phones, I stopped and alighted. I gripped him. He punched me on the
face, at my right eye and proceeded to spray tear gas on my face. He brought
out the teargas from his trouser. He totally blinded me. I couldn’t see. I held
him and tried to defend myself. One man came and said I have beaten a
policeman. I asked ‘where is the policeman.’ Crowd gathered, joined and started
beating us. I struggled like a blind
person in the midst of everybody. Accidentally, my hand hit his face. He got
infuriated and called his colleagues who came to join him. They dragged me and
my associates to a place I later found was a police post inside the Katangua Market.
This was when I realized that a police officer attacked me.”
He said that the traders in the market
later told him that the name of the policeman is corporal Babaginda.
Noting that the policemen turned their
noses at human rights law, Adeoye said: “Babaginda and his colleagues pushed me
and my colleagues into the cell of the Katangua Market Police Post. They
sprayed more tear gas into the cell to suffocate us. They later started
flogging us. This lasted between 1pm to 3pm.”
He noted that if not for the
intervention of the Babaloja and a woman in the market, the policemen would
have maimed them for life.
“When they managed to get the clemency
of the almighty Babangida, Odinga and others, my XTERA car was impounded and
the tyres deflated. This happened with all the goods in it.”
The man said that immediately he got his
freedom, he ran proton to the Oke-Odo Police Station, to report the police
brutality. When other policemen at the Station, saw the extent of the brutality
and bruises on the men, they immediately alerted the Divisional Police Officer
(DPO), in charge of the station.
The DPO ordered the arrest and detention
of Babangida. “I was later given a written document at the station so I could
get medical attention.”
Adeoye would have swept the matter under
the carpet, but went to the station on Monday, only to listen in shock as the
DPO allegedly attempted to rewrite the script of what transpired.
“To my chagrin and utter disbelief, I
returned to the said station on August 17, 2015 and the DPO said that area it
was boys that beat me and my associates, not the police. But in a quick retort,
I asked him, ‘do area boys now use police posts, cells and tear gas?’” said
Adeoye.
Adeoye has quickly written a petition to
Owoseni and copied the Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG), in charge
of Zone II, Onikan Lagos.
In his petition, he alleged that he was,
“disgracefully battered, shattered, harassed, abducted and tortured by some
disgruntled police personnel, in an era when the present Inspector-General of
police, Mr. Solomon Arase, is seriously concerned about public co-operation for
better police services in Nigeria. I appeal to you to ensure that these erring
officers, headed by Babangida face the wrath of the law because he succeeded in
making good his promise to inflict injuries, which he said we must show to our
children.”
As at press time, Adeoye said that his
car and goods, which were seized by Babangida and his colleagues, were yet to
be released to him.
Reacting to Adeoye’s allegations, the
Lagos State Police Spokesman, Patrician Amadin, said that policemen didn’t
strip Adeoye and associates naked and never flogged them.
According to her, it was actually Adeoye
that punched a policeman in the eyes. She said that police have pictorial
evidence to prove this allegation.
She added: “The driver claimed that 50
policemen attacked him and his friend, but it was only three policemen
personnel that were on duty that day at the police post. What happened was that
the policeman flagged him down. It was a routine check. The policeman put his
head into the driver’s car window, to talk with him. The driver started rolling
the car, dragging the policeman along. The policeman was screaming. I don’t
know what happened at that point, but the driver punched the policeman in the
eyes. The driver and his associates were not stripped naked. The story was the
other way round. It was the driver who beat up the policeman!”
No comments:
Post a Comment