Oseni Wasiu has asked the Inspector General of Police, IGP Olukayode Egbetokun, to cause the Nigeria Police Force to compensate him and also provide treatment for the festering wound on his leg, which he said was caused by a policeman during torture.
Wasiu identified the policeman as: “Supol Akeem aka Spider,” attached to Makinde Police Station, Lagos State Police Command.
The victim, determined to get justice, ran to the Advocates for Children and Vulnerable Persons Network office in the Oshodi area of Lagos State.
He alleged that the wound on his leg was caused by a baton, which Akeem repeatedly used to hit his legs.
Wasiu, a commercial bus driver by profession, said: “I want justice!
“I have been borrowing money to buy drugs and treatment for this wound.
“It is because of the wound on my leg that I can no longer work to take care of my children.
“This wound is caused by Supol Akeem!
“He is the person who inflicted this injury on me using a baton.
“If I had died on that day that he tortured me, he would have dumped my corpse somewhere and paraded my corpse as the remains of a suspected armed robber.
“I want the police to pay for my medical bills.
“I want the Nigeria Police to compensate me for my suffering.
“I haven’t committed any crime yet see what Akeem, alias Spider, did to me.
“He damaged my leg.
“Aside from compensation, I want Supol Akeem to face a disciplinary committee or orderly room, and get punishment for what he did to me.
“I want civil society organisations, human rights lawyers, and well-meaning Nigerians to fight for me.
“Akeem abused his office.
“Akeem knows me in our community, and he knows that I am a commercial bus driver.
“He tortured me and then caused me to be sent to jail.”
An official of ACVPN, Comrade Toyin Okanlawon, who has been following up on the case, said that the incident leading to Wasiu’s leg being damaged happened at Makinde Police Station.
Wasiu said that he was not only injured but also had to suffer wrongful imprisonment.
Okanlawon, interpreting for Wasiu, who was speaking in Yoruba, said: “Wasiu is a commercial bus driver, also used to work as a bus conductor sometimes.
“His wife died about two months ago and he had been going through a lot.
“He resides in Oshodi.
“On the fateful day of 14th of July, after returning from his bus driving business at about 11pm, he got home and discovered that his children had not eaten.
“He decided to go and buy food for them from the nearby canteen.
“This happened because he got widowed two months earlier and there was no one to care for the children’s meals.
“He gives them money to buy food before he goes out and he does the same when he returns home.
“He said that he was accosted by a team of policemen among them Supol Akeem as he was returning after buying food for his children.
“They asked him where he was headed, he explained his situation, even showed them the food in the bowl, but his pleas that the children were waiting for him fell on deaf ears.
“He also could not reach anyone because he misplaced his phone.
“The police detained him at Makinde Police Station.
“He was handcuffed tightly on his wrists and legs and his limbs became inflamed and swollen.
“The next day, his case was transferred to Lagos State Task Force.
“Here, five other men who were picked up by the police alongside him were released as they were able to contact their families to bail them.
“They asked him to call anyone to bail him, but because of his phone that was off, he could not contact anyone and that was how the presiding officer at the mobile court sentenced him to three months imprisonment at Kirikiri Prison.
“In the prison, he was given treatment for his wound, but it was not properly done and later his wound started festering.
“He was released on the 10th of August, 2024 with badly decayed limbs.
“He cannot walk properly, and he cannot continue his work as it depends on his legs and hands.
“He saw Supol Akeem the next day after he came back from prison, and he only said he was sorry.
“His condition is bad, especially considering that he was not guilty of any crime.”
The co-founder of ACVPN, Ebenezer Omajalile, described the incident as “unfortunate.”
Omajalile added: “I sensed a high level of conspiracy going on at Makinde Police Station because this Akeem had been reported against several times.
“Just imagine, this policeman Akeem knows Wasiu in the community and is also a bus driver, even saw food with him, Akeem and his team could have followed him for further investigation, but they didn’t.
“It appeared as if Akeem had a personal vendetta against them.
“This sort of case should not be taken lightly.
“He applied force on Wasiu, and I doubt if he would ever be able to walk properly.
“Akeem acted as an outlawed officer.
“He caused Wasiu’s children to go to bed that day, not just hungry, but also not knowing the whereabouts of their only surviving parent.
“Supposing Wasiu died that night in police custody, nobody would have known, not even his children.
“How can the mobile court sentence him to three weeks in prison without checking out his story that he went to buy food for his children?
“What is the Nigerian Criminal Justice system turning into?
“Wasiu was treated unlawfully and the magistrate who presided over that case of Wasiu should be questioned.
“The Nigeria Police Force should not shield this Akeem.
“The Lagos State Commissioner of Police should step into this matter.
“What Akeem did to Wasiu is inhuman.
“This is the sort of thing that led to #EndSARS.
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“Akeem should tell us who sent him on such duty, and I am sure that Wasiu’s leg might be amputated.
“There was a time I warned Akeem concerning his handling of a case.
“We as an organisation, we are saying no to police brutality.
“Why did Akeem transfer the case to the Task Force after he could not pay for bail?
“Akeem should be dismissed to serve as a deterrent to other lawless officers.
“Arresting him is even an infringement on his rights and as such he should be compensated.
“It’s wrong for the police to leave their duty and start targeting innocent people and criminalising them.”
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