A commercial bus driver, Adewale Oseni, is seeking justice after he was allegedly assaulted by a police officer known as Supol Akeem, who is attached to the Makinde Police Station in Oshodi, Lagos.
Oseni said on Tuesday that he
was returning from the food vendor where he had gone to purchase food for his
three children on July 14 at about 10 pm when the officer accosted him.
He said efforts to show him the
food he bought and also appeal to him were ignored by the police officer also said
to be identified as Spider.
The widower whose wife passed
away three months ago claimed that Akeem soon hit him with an iron baseball
baton on the spot.
“The bus I drove had a mechanical fault at
Iyana-Isolo, so I got a mechanic to fix it. The repairs took my time till past
10 pm. On getting home, my children, aged 14, 10 and six years old, had not
slept. They told me the food I left for them before I left home had been eaten
in the afternoon and they had nothing to eat in the evening. Meanwhile, their
mother passed on about two months ago. So, I left home that night to buy them
food at a canteen nearby at Alhaja’s place on Oshodi Road.
“On my way back home, a vehicle
parked closely behind me. I noticed he was a police officer attached to the
Makinde Police Station at Oshodi known as Supol Akeem aka Spider. I pleaded
with him and showed him the food I went to buy for my children but he was heady
and tough with me. He knows me very well within the community as a commercial
bus driver. I begged him for minutes and
he still made up his mind to take me to the station with the food I bought for
my children. As I continued begging him, he refused to listen to my plea, he was holding an iron (baseball baton) which
he used to hit me hard on my right leg.”
The victim said he was taken to
the police station and locked up while he was also feeling an excruciating pain
in his leg.
The Oyo State-born transport
worker said he was taken to the Lagos State Task Force office the following day
from where he ended up in court and later sentenced to prison.
“The next morning, he ordered
all of us he picked that night to come out of the cell. We were about six in
number. Some called their family members who came to bail them, and those of us
who couldn’t reach out to our families were asked to write down our names. He
then ordered us to board the minibus known as Korope, and then drove us to the
task force office at Oshodi without being caught stealing and not being in
conflict with the law.
“I was told to write a statement at the task
force office. About 30 minutes later, I was called along with others that the
lawyer wanted to see us. I explained
everything that happened to the magistrate. With all my plea, I was sentenced
to three weeks in Kirikiri correctional centre. I felt so bad and pained
because my children didn’t know my whereabouts or what happened to me.”
He said the injury he sustained
in his leg due to the assault by Akeem worsened during the time he spent in
prison.
He also recalled how the police
officer used handcuffs to tighten his hand which resulted in injuries on his
wrists.
After his release on August 10,
he said the injuries on both his hands and legs festered and turned to big
sours.
“Since my release on August 10,
the pain continued. I couldn’t sleep or
eat. I can’t do anything or go to work because of the leg. It’s just dripping water and paining me. When
I got to the health centre at Oshodi, they said I would be treated just for
today and that if I wanted them to continue treating my leg, I should get a
police report. I wondered because I didn’t sustain a gunshot injury. The
handcuff Akeem used to tighten my hand inflicted serious injuries on my wrists.
The correctional centre at Kirikiri tried for me because they have a health
facility within. I was given medications and injections but it doesn’t look
like I got real treatment,” he added.
While noting that the injuries
had paralysed him, Oseni called for the intervention of the Inspector-General
of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, and the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Kayode
Fayoade.
He also demanded compensation
for the injury inflicted on him by the officer, while also calling for his
prosecution.
According to him, he could no
longer work to fend for his family following his ordeal
“I want the police to pay my
bills, pay me a compensation and also punish the officer who abused his office
despite knowing me as a commercial bus driver, all because I couldn’t reach out
to my family as my phone got lost during the arrest and couldn’t call anyone to
bail me. So he preferred sending me to jail because of personal interest. My
children are also feeling the heat because their mother died two months ago. I
couldn’t fend for my children as expected,” he added.
The Coordinator of Advocates
for Children and Vulnerable Persons Network, Ebenezer Omejalile, condemned the
action, describing the officer’s action as inhumane treatment.
He said, ‘’This is the most
inhuman treatment meted out to a non-offender citizen of the Federal Republic
of Nigeria. This is simply police brutality, abuse of office, human rights
abuse, racketeering, agencies conspiracy theory and miscarriage of the criminal
justice system against law-abiding citizens of Nigeria. The alleged
perpetrator, Akeem aka Spider, has been on our raider for some time for his
abusive behaviour at every given opportunity. What is the correlation between
the task office and sentencing?
The state Police Public
Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin, could not be reached as calls made to his
telephone were not responded to. A text message sent to him had yet to be
replied to as of the time this report was filed.
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