A human rights organisation, the Save Lagos Group has raised an alarm over
\npersistent violation of the rights of citizens of the state by men of the
\nLagos State Police Command, saying the top hierarchy of the force must
\ncall their errant staff to order before the situation gets out of hand.<\/p>\n
The organisation in a statement signed by its Convener, Comrade Adeniyi A.
\nSulaiman on Tuesday specifically accused personnel attached to
\nMosafejo\/Amukoko Police Station for gross misconduct in the way and manner
\nthey carry out their duties of securing the lives and property of the
\ncitizens.<\/p>\n
Specifically, Sulaiman made the call against a recent development that saw
\nmen of the force attached to Mosafejo\/Amukoko Police Station brutalising a
\nLagos based accounting graduate, Mr. Usman Toryib Owonifari who is still
\nrecuperating at a private hospital in Orile-Iganmu\/Mile 2 area of the
\nstate.<\/p>\n
Recounting his ordeal in the statement, the victim stated that he was with
\nhis fianc\u00e9e, Miss Kausarat Yusuf at her residence on Alafia Street located
\nin Amukoko, Mosafejo area when some policemen forcefully abducted the two
\nof them to their station at Amukoko Divisional Police headquarters at
\nOlatunji Street located a few metres away from Cemetery Road, Amukoko;
\nLagos.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe incidence occurred at about 8:55pm on Sunday 6th of August, 2017. I
\nwas with my fianc\u00e9e in front of their house when we sighted two men in
\nplain clothes coming towards us. We didn\u2019t even take any serious notice of
\nthem until one of them told us rudely to stand up, which we did,\u201d says
\nOwonifari who began to recount his ordeal.<\/p>\n
He continued, \u201cBefore we could make any form of protest, another police
\nofficer in uniform joined them and began to hit me with the butt of his
\ngun. Before them, the other two men were frisking us and putting their
\nhands into our pockets.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I demanded to know what specific offence that we have committed,
\nthey began to beat me and it was at that point one of the other two
\nofficers began to slap Kausara in the face. From nowhere a tricycle
\nsurfaced and they bundled us into it and took us to Mosafejo\/Amukoko
\nPolice Station where we were taken to the back of the main building.\u201d
\nOwonifari said.<\/p>\n
According to him, the cries, pleas and protestations attracted the
\nDivisional Police Officer (DPO) who wanted to know what was happening but
\nin the end failed to rescue them from the continued torture of his men.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe DPO came to where were kept to know what was happening but to our
\nsurprise, he only took his men to somewhere to find out what was happening
\nbut later came around to ask for our own side of the story but soon left
\nus alone to our fate by departing to his office,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Owonifari who is critically lying injured in a private hospital due to the
\ninjuries he suffered from the beatings he received stated that he lost
\nsome valuable belongings to the incidence such as his ATM card, damaged
\nphone, his purse containing the sum of N10,000.<\/p>\n
Commenting on the incidence, Sulaiman urged the leadership of the force to
\nensure prompt monitoring of the activities of its personnel, saying the
\ngroup has given the police commissioner in charge of the state, Mr. Fatai
\nOwoseni 24 hours to effect the arrest of the errant officers and the DPO
\nand to further investigate the matter.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are warning the leadership of the force for the umpteenth time to put
\nthe activities of its men in check, the incessant abuse that they subject
\nthe helpless residents of the state to especially in recent times have
\nbecome unbearable and can no longer be tolerated.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf this attitude is not put in check and we are watching the development,
\nwe will not in anyway hesitate to picket the police headquarters to drive
\nhome our demands. This is because we get to hear these cases of brutality
\nof the citizens everyday in our offices and our patience seems to be
\nrunning out.\u201d Sulaiman stated.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A human rights organisation, the Save Lagos Group has raised an alarm over persistent violation of the rights of citizens of the state by men of the Lagos State Police…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":59153,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-59152","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n