The Lagos State Police Command has refuted a viral report claiming that men, women, and a young boy were detained together in a single cell at the Maroko Police Station in the Lekki area of Lagos.
The report gained attention following a video shared on social media platform X (formerly Twitter) by a user identified as Oyindamola, with the handle @dammiedammie35.
In the video, a woman, who introduced herself as “real omo,” alleged that she and several other individuals, including men and children, were held in the same cell at the Maroko Police Station.
In the video, the woman appealed for help, stating, “Men and women are together in the cell. See small pikin [sic] with children. We don’t know what to do… We need help right now.” She further claimed that they were arrested while walking in Lekki the previous night during a police raid.
Responding to the viral video, the Lagos State Police Command’s spokesperson, Benjamin Hundeyin, debunked the allegations via a tweet on Monday.
He clarified that the individuals shown in the video were not detained together in a cell but were kept in a holding area where they were visible to officers on duty at the charge room.
Hundeyin emphasized that once detainees are transferred into the actual cell, they are properly separated, and access to phones is restricted.
In an additional video shared by Hundeyin, several individuals, including five males and five females, were shown standing in what was described as an “open cell” near the charge room.
According to the officer in the video, these individuals were mostly children who had run away from home and had been brought to the station by residents of Lekki.
The officer added that many of their parents had already come to pick them up.
The police spokesperson reiterated that the individuals were kept in an open holding area and not in a shared cell as the viral video suggested.
