A 29-year-old photographer, Ejeh Smith, and
his wife, Grace, 26, are in pains and receiving
treatment at a Lagos hospital after a police
officer, identified as Dada Ogunsanya,
allegedly tortured them with his rifle.
Ogunsanya is attached to the Ikoyi Police
Division.

The incident happened at the Lekki
Roundabout on Wednesday, last week, while
the couple was in a taxi en route to their home
at Parkview Estate.
PUNCH Metro learnt that the police officer
was among a seven-man team, patrolling the
area around 10pm.

The police team was said to have stopped the
taxi driver and demanded that he opened his
boot for a routine check.
The taxi driver, Ndubuisi Iheaka, told our
correspondent that after he opened his boot
which contained scaffolding belts, the
policeman demanded to see his driving
licence.

“I was about getting the driving licence when
he started flashing his torchlight on my
passengers who were sitting at the back.
“The wife told the officer not to flash the torch
on them since the inner light of the vehicle
was on.

“Because of what she said, the policeman
asked them to come down from the cab. This
started an argument. The next thing I saw was
that the policeman pulled my passenger (Ejeh)
by his trousers, and his wife went to plead with
him to stop.

“But instead, he slapped her and punched her
husband. He was wearing a ring, which
inflicted a deep cut on Ejeh’s face. After that,
he used the butt of his gun to hit him in his eye
and face. He also dragged his wife on the
road.”

Grace said the policeman, apart from slapping
her, stepped on her tummy.
“If I was pregnant that night, I would have lost
my pregnancy. I was only trying to pet him to
leave my husband since he did not have
business with us. I told him to face the cab
driver and leave us alone. “The other
policemen were just looking at him while he
dragged me on the ground. A man riding a
tricycle at the time was the one who rescued
me. He said the policemen must call their
Divisional Police Officer or else he would not
leave the scene,” she said.
The Ikoyi DPO, Mrs. Aisha Haruna, was said
to have arrived at the scene.

Ejeh claimed he could barely see because
blood was dripping from his eyes, while his
wife was vomiting blood. He added that the
DPO ordered that they be taken to the
station to make statements.

He said, “But we told her that we needed to
first treat ourselves before we could make
statements. That was when we were given
forms and referred to the Falomo Police
Hospital. We paid for the treatment and we
also went to the eye clinic for treatment.”
His wife claimed that the DPO seized her
phone and asked an inspector at the station to
delete all the pictures and video recording she
did of the incident.

“Even my personal data were deleted. And
when I asked the DPO why she did that, she
said we deserved the treatment we got. She
said she would have locked us up in the cell if
not for our injuries. She said we did not know
how to talk,” she added.

The family lawyer of the victims, Mr. Sunday
Agbinya, said his office would write a petition
to the Inspector General of Police to redress
the wrong done to his clients.

“This is a case of assault occasioning harm
and we intend to challenge it. We will send a
petition to the IG. We want the police to
conduct a full investigation into this,” he said.
The legal officer of a non-governmental
organisation, Project Alert on Violence
Against Women, Mr. Ben Odeh, said the
police officer responsible for the act should be
disciplined for torturing the couple.
He said, “It is a breach of their constitutional
rights. The policeman went too far.”

The Police Public Relations Officer, DSP
Kenneth Nwosu, confirmed the incident.
He said, “Yes, the incident happened in the
Ikoyi division.Inquiries are on as well as
disciplinary procedures.”


www.punchng.com/news/policeman-tortures-man-wife-in-lagos/

Nigeria police force.. Why how.. A proper investigation should be done and the policeman must face the law.

too bad, that what happens when you are poor.

It is a crime to be an ordinary citizen in this country.

Better to be a rich thief or armed thug than to be a poor responsible citizen in this Kangaroo republic.

I hope the police officer is relieved of his duties cos this action shows clearly that the police officer was drunk.