Traders and other people around Oshodi on Saturday witnessed police overzealousness after policemen deployed in the area to maintain peace, embarked on indiscriminate arrest of innocent people and even accused some of them of frivolous offences.

The policemen were deployed in Oshodi-Mushin-Onipanu areas to maintain peace after the youths in the area clashed over supremacy claim.


For instance, a woman, identified simply as Abimbola, was accused by the police of kidnapping her two children.


The woman’s husband, Fred, told PUNCH METRO that his wife was coming back from a wedding in company with their two children, when policemen stopped their vehicle and accused his spouse of kidnapping the children.


He said over 200 people gathered to watch the unfolding drama as his wife and the policemen engaged in battle of wits. He said that it was after many of the onlookers stepped into the argument that the policemen agreed that Abimbola was the mother of the children.


Fred said, “She was going home with our two children and our little cousin. She had picked up a taxi in front of Bar Moral hall, and as she approached Oshodi to connect Oshodi-Apapa Expressway, policemen that were stationed there, stopped her and asked her who had the children. They told the driver to park. One of the officers said, ‘Madam, come down, they are not your children. You have kidnapped them. You are taking them to Badagry.’


“My wife burst into tears and insisted that they were her children. The argument continued for a long time and the children had to come down from the vehicle. The police officers started interrogating our little cousin, who told them that the woman is her uncle’s wife and the two children are hers. One of the policemen pointed out that because her body was still firm, the two children couldn’t be hers. I was told he said, ‘I have a woman at home. I know how her body is after giving birth and you are saying that this one has given birth?’ It took people’s intervention for the police officers to release her.


At Fadeyi Bus Stop on Ikorodu Road, where policemen were also deployed; apart from arresting the people suspected to be involved in the disruption of peace in the area, a young man, Anthony, was also arrested after the police accused him of being one of the youths fomenting trouble in the area.


It was gathered that Anthony was sent to buy some gift items meant for a wedding, and while the young man was on his way, the police arrested him alongside other people.


Anthony’s mother and two sisters abandoned the wedding and came to plead the innocence of their brother. Unlike others who were similarly indiscriminately raided by the policemen, they were able to secure the release of their brother after much pleading.


Spokesman of the state police command, Mr. Frank Mba, in a telephone interview, said the police went to the area to maintain law and order. According to him, any arrest is part of police job. He added that it was the response of the police that prevented the violence from escalating.


Mba said, “We are on top of the situation. We have always responded swiftly to issues that required our presence. The violence in the area would have been worse if not for our quick intervention. We have a strong presence of intelligence operatives in that area who have provided us with so much information that have helped us maintain law and order in that area.”

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Posted: at 18-01-2011 11:54 AM (13 years ago) | Gistmaniac

okay!

Posted: at 18-01-2011 01:20 PM (13 years ago) | Gistmaniac

Hmmmmmm........

Posted: at 19-01-2011 10:26 AM (13 years ago) | Gistmaniac

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