ATTENTION - INSPECTOR
GENERAL OF POLICE,NIGERIA
ATTENTION - ALL HUMAN RIGHTS ORGANISATION.
ATTENTION - ALL NIGERIANS.
ABUSE OF POWER TO TERRORISE AND HARM
UNARMED NIGERIANS IS A CRIME
AND MUST BE ADDRESSED....ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!
29-year-old photographer,
Ejeh Smith was brutalised by a policeman attached to the Ikoyi Police Division
along with his wife, Grace,and the police has released a statement alleging
that Mr Ejeh was drunk on the night of the incident.
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He
claims Mr Ejeh was drunk but managed to beat both of them to a pulp,he beat
an unarmed woman..!
...look at their injuries!.....LOOK!
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The police
authorities added that the couple engaged the policeman in a scuffle, adding
that since the incident happened, they had refused to make statements to the
police.
The Police Public
Relations Officer, Lagos State Command, DSP Kenneth Nwosu, told PUNCH
Metro that the police had, however, detained the erring policeman, Dada
Ogunsanya, assuring members of the public that justice would be served.
The Lagos
police’s defence came as the Inspector General of Police, Suleiman Abba,
ordered a full scale investigation into the case.
Punch reported on
Wednesday Ejeh Smith, and his wife, Grace, were on their way home in a taxi
they boarded at Obalende and the cab was reportedly stopped at the Lekki
Roundabout by a team of policemen patrolling the area.
According to the
taxi driver, Ndubuisi Iheaka, the police corporal checked the boot of the car
before demanding for his driving licence.
Iheaka said while
he was about getting the licence, Ogunsanya decided to beam his torchlight on
his passengers.
The couple was
said to have protested the action, telling him that the inner lights of the
vehicle, which were on, was enough for him to see their faces.
The policeman
reportedly asked them to alight after which an argument ensued, which
degenerated into a scuffle.
In the process,
Ogunsanya allegedly punched Ejeh in the face and also allegedly hit him in the
face with the butt of his rifle. He thereafter slapped Grace and stepped on her
stomach.
The Ikoyi
Divisional Police Officer, Mrs Aisha Haruna, who arrived at the scene was
accused by the couple of backing the policeman’s action.
The report of the
torture, accompanied with the pictures of the couple at the time of the
incident published by PUNCH Metro, had sparked rage.
A Lagos-based
human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, constitutional lawyer, Prof. Itse Sagay
and The PUNCH online readers, were among those who called for the
sanction of the erring policeman in a follow-up report published on Thursday.
The police
spokesman, Nwosu, while reacting to the reports, said the police had commenced
disciplinary action against the corporal.
It was learnt
that Ogunsanya had spent 11 years in the Nigeria Police Force.
He said,
“Investigation is ongoing because as a command, we are alive to our
responsibility and we do not condone any act of incivility to members of the
public.
“However, the
police corporal is alleging that the couple fought him in uniform. The man in
question (Ejeh) was alleged to be drunk, and since that incident happened, he
has refused to make statements to the police. If you have a good case, why will
you say you don’t want to make statement?
“The Ikoyi DPO
they are mentioning said she arrived at the scene and ordered all of them to be
taken to the station. She was the one who even issued medical forms to them so
they could go to the hospital.
“The man (Ejeh)
told her (DPO) that he had taken her picture and would send it to his pastor to
pray against her. I was told that he made the station uncomfortable. Can that
be right? Is that the way to behave?
“We are
interested in flushing out the bad eggs in the system and if this officer that
has been accused is one of them, we will flush him out.”
He added that
Ogunsanya had been transferred from the Ikoyi Division to the command
headquarters where he was being detained.
While reacting to
the police claims, Ejeh said he was not drunk on the night of the incident,
adding that the police were merely cooking up allegations against him
“I was not drunk
that night because I was coming from Ikeja where I worked. I met my wife at
Obalende from where we took the cab. I was not drunk at all.
“I also fault the
claim that I fought with the policeman because nothing like that happened. He
was the one who hit me with his rifle in the eye, so how can a man who could
barely see fight again?
“And yes, I told
them I couldn’t make statement because my eyesight had been affected. I cannot
see with one eye right now. I told our family lawyer about this and he said he
would write a petition where he will state the case for us.”
Meanwhile, the
Inspector General of Police, Mr. Sulaiman Abba, has ordered a full scale
investigation into the case.
The Force
spokesperson, Emmanuel Ojukwu, in a statement on Thursday, said all officers
implicated in the case would be sanctioned.
He said, “The
attention of the Police High Command has been drawn to a viral media story
alleging police incivility to a couple in Ikoyi, Lagos.
“The Inspector-General
of Police, Suleiman Abba, has ordered a full scale investigation into the
matter in line with his avowed commitment to protect and uphold the human
rights of all Nigerians and residents therein.
“The officer
involved has been identified and is already undergoing administrative trial.
All other officers whose conduct did not speak well in the incident are also
being sanctioned, preparatory to further necessary action.”
The statement
further said Abba would not condone any act of indiscipline, noting that any
person or group of persons caught acting disorderly or abusing rights of
members of the public would not only be punished internally, but would also be
made to face the wrath of the law.
The IG of police should be vigilant on
this case otherwise this will give other policemen the power to commit crimes
against unarmed Nigerians,this is wrong,this is barbaric and must stop!
#Justice4Ejeh
