Lawyer cries to IGP over police harassment, indefinite detention of client

ALAGOS- based rights lawyer, Yinka Sanni, has sought the urgent intervention of Inspector General of Police ( IGP), Kayode Egbetokun, over an alleged case of police harassment and indefinite detention of his client.

Sanni, a property consultant, said the alleged police action followed a land matter between his client, Abdulsaheed Mosadoluwa ( a. k. a Ibile), and other competitors.

He alleged that his client was arrested in Lagos, on January 20, was kept in Area ‘ F’, Ikeja, by men of the Special Tactical Squad ( STS) from Abuja, and flown to the Federal Capital T erritory ( FCT) the following day .

He said that after interrogations, his client was granted bail. However , the Deputy Inspector General of Police ( DIG) in charge of STS, Garuba Sanni, invited him as he was about to board a flight back to Lagos and detained him.

According to Sanni, the DIG instructed his bo ys to approach the court for a remand order so that the client could be kept in custody perpetually .

The lawyer said the matter for which his client was being held had been investigated by police detectives attached to Zone 2 Command Headquarters Onikan, Lagos, adding that the issue had even gone to court.

He said after his client was arrested on January 20, he told the officers from Abuja that the matter had been investigated and was in court. He said they asked him to bring documents relating to his claims as early as 9: 00 a. m., the following day. But when he got to the station at about 8: 00 a. m., the men had flown to Abuja.

He said: “I want the IGP to know that the Nigerian Police is one; there is no need for duplicity of case files. You report a case here and because the suspect sees that the case is not favourable to him, he runs to another police formation to lodge the same complaint against you. And you, who was the complainant here, becomes a suspect there. It’s doublejeopardy.

“This trend should stop. The police officers from Zone 2 are not from Ghana. It is very strange for the STS operatives to commence fresh investigation without recourse to the case file in Zone 2.

“The continued detention of Mosadoluwa, while sending police officers on January 28, to come and obtain statements from other parties that sold land to him, clearly reveals bias when the other party moves freely .”

When contacted, police spokesperson, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, said he was aware of the matter.