Policemen attached to the Lagos CP Tactical Squad, Area ‘M’ in Ijegun, Ikotun, Lagos State, have been accused of damaging a vehicle’s brake lights and stealing N226,500 from its occupants after claiming they possessed cocaine and a gun.
Israel James, one of the occupants of this vehicle, told FIJ he and his friends were driving through the Ijegun area on Saturday afternoon when the policemen suddenly changed direction to follow them.
He said they did not think too much of the police’s presence, but things took a different turn when they stopped at a friend’s house, and the police hit their vehicle from behind.
A crowd gathered as both parties began exchanging words. In a video FIJ saw, a voice can be heard saying in Pidgin English, “Dem go do am, dem go do am,” as another voice says, “See am, see am for here. Dem break the light, the bumper, too.”
Recalling his experience, James said, “My brother and I went to a friend’s house for his mother’s remembrance event. We drove to pick three people up.
“On our way, we had to drop one of them at his mother’s house to pick up some clothes. While approaching this house, we noticed the police making a U-turn to come behind us. As we did not think too much of it, we moved on to our destination.
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“When we got to the street, the police hit us from behind, spoiling the bumper and brake light.”
James said what followed was a shouting match between them and the policemen.
“They told us to drive the vehicle to their station so they could fix it, but we disagreed because we don’t trust the police,” he continued.
“My friend’s mother then came out of her house and told them to take the car to her mechanic’s workshop which was nearby, and they agreed. She drove the car herself.
“What happened next was we saw three Sienna vehicles show up with more policemen. They began harassing us. They stopped my friend’s mom and wanted to collect the car key from her but she resisted. They then took my brother and me to the station, beat us and forced us to write statements claiming they found cocaine and a gun with us. They also claimed we were the ones who hit their car.
“The police held us from about 12:30 pm to 9 pm when my aunt and her husband came to bail us. The police collected N226,500 from us. We were not the only ones there. They held many other young boys and were demanding huge sums to let them go.”
On Sunday, FIJ called Akinola Aduroja, Commander in charge of the Tactical Unit, but he failed to answer the phone. At press time, he had not returned the calls. FIJ also sent him messages detailing the incident, but he had yet to respond.
The Lagos Police Complaints Response Unit told FIJ that it will investigate the matter.
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