DIVISIONAL POLICE OFFICER GETS PROMOTION AFTER RAPE OF FEMALE DETAINEE IN LAGOS

The Network on Police Reforms in Nigeria (NOPRIN) has condemned the seemingly promotion of Mr. Adekunle Awe, a Superintendent of Police (SP) and then Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of Onikan Police Division, who allegedly raped a 31- year-old female detainee in his custody on April 15 2014.

According Okechukwu Nwanguma,  the National Coordinator of NOPRIN, rather than be reprimanded for raping a female suspect while she was in his custody, Adekunle Awe appeared to have been congratulated, as latest findings reveals that he is presently the second in Commander, in Area C Police Command, Surulere, Lagos. This is a great leap from being a DPO when he allegedly raped the suspect.

The victim, Miss. Akinwunmi, accused the DPO of rape while she was in his custody.

According to her, she was arrested on a Tuesday about 1: am and the rape occurred on same day at about 10pm.

Miss. Akinwunmi said: “He said I should wash, but I said no. He started shouting at me, saying he would make sure I and my brothers go to jail. I went into his toilet. There was a bucket filled with water. The water contained Dettol. I used it to wash.”

The then Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mohammed Abubakar ordered the Lagos State Command to set up a panel to look into the rape allegation. Since then, the case appeared to have been swept under the carpet.

Nwanguma who revealed the latest on Awe, while addressing journalists on ‘Police brutality and abuse persist,’ said: “As you are aware, NOPRIN has been in the fore front of the campaign for justice in this case, to ensure that it was not swept under the carpet.

“We recalled that the then police PRO Lagos State Police Command,  Ngozi Braide, who was a member of the investigation team at the Lagos State Command, had told journalists about two weeks after the incident that the outcome of police investigation would be made public through a press conference.

“Today   nearly 12 months after the incident was exposed by NOPRIN through the media, and contrary to promises by police authorities of impartial and transparent investigation, the police are yet to make public the outcome of their investigation which traversed three levels from Lagos State Police Command, through Zone 2 to the Force Headquarters.”

He said that at intervals, NOPRIN continued to raise the alarm over fears that the police were deliberately delaying and prolonging investigation as a machination to wear out public patience.

He opined: “The police want to sweep the matter under the carpet once public interest subsided and public attention shifted. The police are under a moral burden to convince us that this is not what has happened eventually. Today, we are yet to know the outcome of police investigations in this case.

“But we know that the suspected culprit, former DPO Mr. Adekunle Awe, is still serving in Lagos State Command and working free while his victim has been left to lick her psychological and physical wounds. She has received no justice, despite losing her job, dignity and reputation in the aftermath of the violent sexual abuse she suffered.”