Ralph Ojotu, a resident of Ijegun, Ikotun area of Lagos State, was playing pool in the bar of New World Hotel near his residence on Wednesday when the police came for him.
It was noon, and Ojotu had just stepped away from work to relax before going back home, which doubled as his workplace. He worked primarily online as an importer and exporter of goods.
The policemen asked him what he did for a living, and why he was at a bar at noon. Dissatisfied with his answer, they arrested him and anyone who dared to get in their way or plead Ojotu’s case.
“They arrested me; Omogbolahan, my brother; Itape Emmanuel, my son’s friend; Pelumi Makinde, a friend; and Lateef Yekini, a car dealer,” Ojotu told www.aso.rocks. “The policemen said there was a robbery in the area and they were raiding to arrest suspects.
“They took us to Isheri-Oshun police station along Ijegun road. They did not make us make statements immediately but dumped us in a cell immediately.
READ MORE: ‘Na Where Man Dey Work Hin Dey Chop’ — Lagos DPO Admits to Running Rogue Police Unit
“It was in the evening they brought us out to make statements. We wrote, and I asked what sitting in a bar had to do with the robbery, and if they had any proof of my involvement.”
Ojotu told www.aso.rocks he was kept at the station until 9 pm when his aged parents came to the station to bail him, his brother and friend out.
POLICE DEMAND ₦200,000 FOR ‘BAIL’
“My parents got to learn of our arrest and came to the station late at night. The DPO was so rude, she was cussing, slapping a man, and insulting everyone. The police even made my mom withdraw ₦200,000 to pay them cash and secure our release,” he said.
“No one paid less than ₦50,000 before they were let go. Two men were unable to pay the money, and were still in custody when I left.”
www.aso.rocks called Bisilia Onyejegbu, the DPO of the station, on Thursday, and she confirmed leading the operation that led to the arrests, but declined comment on bail sums collected by her officers.
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Ojotu told www.aso.rocks that one Funmilayo Sulaiman was one of the officers who processed the bail, while another officer named Agoro, was also part of the process.
www.aso.rocks called Sulaiman on Saturday but she did not take our calls. We called her again on Sunday, but she cut the call after hearing our question.
When Sulaiman was attached to the Idimu police division, a source told www.aso.rocks she demanded a ₦120,000 bail fee to release him after policemen accused him of damaging their phones.
Lagos Police Demand N120,000 to Release Driver Accused of Damaging Their Phones
The incident occurred on November 22, 2021. On the same day, Sulaiman and other officers had arrested Kunle Jinadu, another young man, simply identified as Victor, and detained him in a cell for filming policemen assaulting Jinadu.
When www.aso.rocks’s reporter arrived the station, the DPO released Victor and returned his phone which Sulaiman earlier seized.
In the Isheri-Oshun station where she now works, www.aso.rocks reported earlier how Oluwole Ayodele, the station’s former DPO, confessed to running a rogue police division, after one of his officers threatened to kill this reporter, saying “nothing will happen”.
The post Lagos Policemen Claimed Men Were Robbery Suspects, Then Robbed Them of ₦200,000 appeared first on Foundation For Investigative Journalism.
<p>The post Lagos Policemen Claimed Men Were Robbery Suspects, Then Robbed Them of ₦200,000 first appeared on SwordPress.</p>