The Lagos State Police Command has
arrested five policemen attached to the anti-robbery section of the
State Department of Criminal Investigation, Yaba, over the abduction and
torture of a journalist, Femi Owolabi, and others.
PUNCH Metro had reported on
Monday that Owolabi and about 30 others were abducted by the policemen
who embarked on an illegal raid near a night club in the FESTAC area of
the state. The victims were conveyed in three blue buses to the SDCI and
tortured for several hours.
The report subsequently drew the ire of human rights activists who demanded the prosecution of the culprits.
Following the PUNCH publication,
the Force headquarters tendered an apology to Owolabi. The
Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Solomon Arase, also gave the Lagos
State Police Commissioner, Mr. Fatai Owoseni, 48 hours to fish out the
culprits.
Police investigations revealed that the
errant cops were attached to D9 (anti-robbery section) at the SDCI. The
cops, it was learnt, would be given an orderly room trial to determine
if they would be dismissed or not.
The Lagos CP confirmed to our correspondent that the policemen had been arrested.
“I can confirm to you that the policemen have been detained over the incident and investigations are ongoing,” he said.
He told PUNCH Metro that the
command would not tolerate human rights abuses, as he had directed the
Officer in Charge of the section to produce the list of the policemen on
the raid.
The CP added that the Deputy Commissioner of Police, SDCI, was personally in charge of the investigation.
The Lagos police boss said he had
interrogated the senior police officer that led the raid and had checked
the list of those arrested on the fateful day.
He, however, said Owolabi’s name was not
seen on the list. He, therefore, urged the journalist to come to see
him in his office as soon as possible in order to assist with
investigations.
The CP said, “I have asked the OC of D9
to identify the operatives who went to FESTAC Town on that raid. I also
met with the team leader of the raid yesterday (Monday) who explained
his own part.
“He showed me the list of people raided
at FESTAC. I do not know whether the journalist gave another name, but
there was no Owolabi on that list.
“The DC, SDCI, had called the journalist
to assist the police with investigation, and to ask him to identify the
policemen involved. The public can be assured that the command will not
tolerate human rights abuses.”
However, Owolabi told our correspondent
on the telephone that he gave his name to the policemen, adding that the
cops who embarked on the illegal raid were not less than 10. He had, in
the Monday report, identified one of them simply as Isiaka.
The Deputy Force Public Relations
Officer, CSP Abayomi Shogunle, said the Force headquarters was still
awaiting the report from the Lagos State CP.
He added that the report would determine further actions.
He said, “The directive from the Force
Headquarters is that the CP of Lagos State should investigate and submit
a report to the headquarters within 48 hours and that limit has yet to
elapse.
“It is when the report from Lagos comes in that you can get updates from the Force headquarters.”
