Widower paralysed after police brutality in Lagos

A commercial bus driver, Adewale Oseni, is seeking justice after he was allegedly brutalised by a police officer identified simply as Supol Akeem attached to Makinde Police Station in Oshodi, Lagos.

Oseni told PUNCH Metro 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.