A 33-year-old interior designer, Dapo Oguntimehin, has revealed how he was unlawfully detained and tortured by policemen attached to the Amukoko Police Division, Lagos State.
Oguntimehin, who spoke to PUNCH Metro correspondent said he was returning from work around 10.30pm on Friday when he was cornered at a bus stop by the policemen, who dragged him into their operational vehicle and zoomed off.
He said he was locked up in a cell after the policemen had seriously beaten him, adding that he was released after N3,500 was paid for his bail.
The interior designer, who hails from Ondo State said after his release, the policemen could not produce a bag he brought to the station, which he claimed contained Automated Teller Machine cards, business cards, cardigan and N35,000.
He said,
“It all started around 10.30pm while I was waiting at Alafia bus stop on the Lagos-Badagry Expressway to catch a tricycle that will take me home.
“I had not spent up to three minutes at the bus stop when a man pulled me by the waistband and asked me to follow him. Another man came behind me and joined the first guy. I was still arguing with them when the third person came and slapped me. He wore a T-shirt with ‘Police’ inscribed on it.
“I was beaten up until I entered their bus, where there were other people that they had illegally arrested. They took us to the Pako Police Station in Amukoko. They left us and went out to pick two more batches of people.”
He said policemen at the station ordered him and others to line up and remove their personal effects, adding that the operatives wrote their names and collected their phones, which were tagged.
He said,
“I had two phones. I dropped one and hid the other in my socks. They took my bag. Those who had money on them paid and were allowed to go. Some others called their relatives and some powerful people they knew, and were released as well.
“Those of us left were asked to remove our shirts; but I refused. I was flogged with sticks, slapped on the face and hit with objects on the head.
“I had money in my bag, but I did not tell them. There were a lot of us in the cell. We urinated there because there is no toilet. Everywhere stank. We all slept inside the cell.”
The victim said while the men were kept in the cell, the women were left at the counter.
He said,
“That morning, they gave me my second phone, with which I called a neighbour who came for my bail. He paid N3,500 – N3,000 for bail and N500 for ‘counter money.’ After the payment, I went out to get my things.
“When I asked for my bag, they said they could not find it. The bag contained two ATM cards, my business cards, cardigan, belt and N35,000.”
Oguntimehin said when he insisted on getting his property before leaving the station, he was threatened with further torture.
He said he later contacted the Public Complaint Rapid Response Unit, adding that the unit said it had started work on the case.
He said,
“The N35,000 was for a job somebody gave me. The policemen did not give me a chance to explain anything before the arrest. I had my ID card, but they were not interested. I am ready to identify them.”
The Head of the PCRRU, Abayomi Sogunle, confirmed that the agency received the report.
He said the case had been referred to the Inspector-General of Police X-Squad for “detailed investigation.”
