Following a petition by NOPRIN to the then Lagos State Commissioner of Police, and later, to the Inspector General of Police and the Police Service Commission, a team of investigators was set up to investigate the grave allegation made by the victim against the DPO. When asked about the matter, the then Public Relations Officer for the Lagos State Police Command, Ms. Ngozi Braide, who was also a member of the investigating team told reporters about two weeks after the incident that investigation was in progress and that the outcome of investigation would be made public through a press conference. More than two years after this very serious allegation which did serious damage to the image and public perception of the police as an institution, the outcome of investigation is yet to be made public.
The victim accused the DPO of raping her while she was in police custody. She said Mr. Awe raped her at about 10pm on the same day she was arrested. According to the victim, “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, Mohammed Abubakar, ordered the Lagos State Police Command to set up a panel to look into the rape allegation. Since then, the case appeared to have been swept under the carpet.
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. But despite assurances 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. At intervals, NOPRIN continued to raise the alarm over fears that the police were deliberately delaying and prolonging investigation as a ploy to wear out public patience and to sweep the matter under the carpet once public interest subsided and public attention shifted. The police are under a moral burden to convince Nigerians that this is not what has happened eventually. Today, we are yet to know the outcome of police investigations into this alleged heinous crime.
But we know that the suspected culprit, former DPO, Mr. Adekunle Awe, is still serving in Lagos State Command and walking 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.
Instead of subjecting Mr. Awe to appropriate disciplinary action if found culpable for raping the female detainee in his custody, police authorities appear to have shielded him, and even rewarded him by redeploying him first to Area ‘C’ Police Command, Surulere as 2i/c (second-in-command) to the Area Commander- a leap from his previous position.
In late July 2016, NOPRIN received further information that Mr. Awe had again been redeployed to Police Area ‘G’, Ogba also as 2i/c to the Area Commander.
Keeping the outcome of police investigation into this grave allegation of rape by a senior police officer, and shielding the culprit from justice will only help to promote impunity which has continued to dent the image of the police and deny it the much needed public trust, confidence and cooperation.
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