A father,
Alhaji Ismail Olaitan, who is a member of the
Human Rights
Monitoring Agenda (HURMA), has narrated how his son was allegedly beaten by
operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) in Lagos State, leading to
his being hospitalised.
Ismail, who
shared his experience with civil society organisations and human rights
activists, said that he was happy with the manner the SARS’ leadership handled
and resolved the matter.
Recollecting
the genesis of his son’s trouble, he said: “On January 2, 2020, at about 5: pm,
I was at Isolo when my children and my neighbour called me that SARS
operatives at Olowosokedile have come again with their troubles. I was told
they were in the house, beating my children and that they had taken my son,
Quadri Olaitan. When I got to their office, they told me that my children
bought phone from one of their suspects, which was not true. The suspect himself
told Quadri in the cell that the officer asked him to be pointing at people for
them to get money from them. My son was taken to the ATM and made to withdraw N2000
from the less than N4000 in his account.”
He explained
that Quadri was released on bail to him, after he parted with N22, 000, adding
that the policemen also took some phones from his apartment.
“They broke
my gate, damaged my freezer, beat my son to the extent that he is now admitted
in the hospital,” said Ismail.
He disclosed
that he went to SARS leadership at the state headquarters’ Ikeja, to lodge a
complaint against the policemen.
His words: “The
five officers involved have been arrested and detained in a cell. There are
several people now begging that we don't take the matter beyond its present
state and as well appealing on behalf of the detained SARS operatives that they
should be released. The Officer in charge of SARS, the state’s headquarters,
insisted that the five policemen must spend at least 31 days in detention with
proper discipline. It is also promised that all things taken by the
officers would be returned including payment for the treatment of the boy in
hospital.”
The request
of HURMA leadership is that the affected police leadership should properly
investigate the matter and ensure that justice is done.
No comments:
Post a Comment