₦airaland Forum

Premium Times investigative reporter, Nicholas Ibekwe, has called out popular Police officer, Abba Kyari, over what happened when he was the commander of SARS in Lagos in 2013.

Mr Ibekwe took to his Twitter page to reveal this and wrote:

In 2013, Nigeria's so-called super cop, Abba Kyari, was the commander of SARS in Lagos.

Under his watch, a promising young man, Olúwa Seyi Adesuyi, was arrested in the Okomaiko area of Lagos by SARS operatives.

Olúwaseyi was never seen again.

School was not for Olúwaseyi. He dropped out from Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education and started selling used mobile phones & laptops at Alaba International Market.

He found his niche. In no time he bought a used car and didn't have to rely on stipends from his parents.

In June 2013, he was arrested by SARS operatives who claimed he bought a stolen laptop.

The SARS operatives claimed the laptop he bought was stolen from a former Commissioner of Information in Lagos, Kehinde Bamigbetan, when he was the Chairman of Ejigbo LGA.

Mr Bamigbetan had been kidnapped two months earlier and was released after paying an undisclosed ransom.

Oluwaseyi's parents who based in Akure became worried after not hearing from their son for months.

They searched for him everywhere without success.

Someone later suggested they should go and look for him at SARS office in Ikeja.

They did and found his name on a register of arrested suspects.

They asked to see Olúwaseyi but were turned down.

"We asked to see him. We wanted to know what happened, nobody spoke to us. We were going there everyday, but nobody spoke with us. But since they said he was with them, we knew that he was alive," Oluwaseyi's mother told me.

They later learned that the SARS investigating office (IPO) was called "Jamaica".

Officers of aliases, like gangsters, is one of the dysfunction of SARS. It grants them the anonymity they need to break the law at will.

They said the person you are looking for is an armed robber. Just for us to see him, they said no way. Till today we've never seen him," Oluwaseyi's mother said.

Then the swindling started.

Several weeks later, the mother received a phone call from a man who said he was detained in the same cell as Olúwaseyi.

The man said when he was being released Olúwaseyi begged him to call his family. He also instructed his family to speak to an officer he thought could help.

They policeman who refused to identify himself demanded for a bribe of N200, 000 to help recurve Oluwaseyi's release. This family paid. But that was just the beginning of the con. The policeman collected more money from them but did not even show Olúwaseyi to his family.

I went to SARS office at Ikeja on several times but was told they did not keep a record of arrested individuals and there was no way of knowing what happened to Olúwaseyi.

"Proper records of arrests are not kept," said CSP Peter Gana, the SARS commander in Lagos in 2018.

"If I take you to where statements are kept you will see everything is placed on the floor and on top each other. Some of them are even soaked With water. The incident happened 5 years ago. Even if I see the file, I am sure it would be unreadable," he said.

Mr Gana suggested that I should talk to Abba Kyari, who was the commander when Olúwaseyi was arrested.

When I called him Mr Kyari said he couldn't remember the case in question.

"Wallahi I can't remember anything. It's a long time. Why didn't they looked for him until now?"

When I send him further text messages explaining the effort of his family to reach him after they realised he was missing, Mr Kyari did not reply.

Mr Olúwaseyi was never charged to court.

I hope these #EndSARS protests will assist in finding out what happened to Oluwaseyi so his family can achieve closure.

Source: https://twitter.com/nicholasibekwe/status/1317388929046335489?s=19

The way Police accuse and arrest even innocent people, leveling false accusations on them is alarming. If you refuse to settle, the accusations increase. 'I no follow' is now over 10k.
#EndSARS

Here is the full story.

How man arrested by SARS five years ago disappeared without trace

The last time Oluwaseyi Adesuyi was seen alive in public was on July 5, 2013, when he was paraded as a suspect before journalists in connection with a high-profile kidnapping.

Since then, like a mirage at dusk, he has completely disappeared without a trace.

The police, which arrested and paraded him, are unable to say what happened to him. They cannot produce any record of his arrest. He did not escape from police custody. There is also no evidence he was charged to court. Nobody knows his whereabouts.

His family has searched for him at every police formation that mattered in Lagos, Ondo, and Abuja but has come out with absolutely no information about what happened to him.

Arrested for allegedly buying stolen goods

Oluwaseyi, a dropout from the Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education, traded in used mobile phones and laptops at Alaba International Market, Lagos. On June 2013, as he was driving around the Okokomaiko area of Lagos, he was accosted by men of the controversial Special Anti-Robbery Squad unit of the police, who arrested him and impounded his Nissan Pathfinder SUV.

The police claimed he had bought a laptop stolen from Kehinde Bamigbetan, then chairman of the Ejigbo Local Development Council (he is the current Lagos State Commissioner for Information) who was kidnapped two months earlier.

Mr Bamigbetan was released a week later by his abductors after paying an undisclosed amount as ransom.

For three days, Mr Adesuyi did not return home. Nobody knew his whereabouts. His mobile phone was switched off. Worried at his sudden disappearance, one of his friends called his parents, who live in Akure, some 310 kilometres north of Lagos, to ask if they had seen him.

His parents had not seen him in months before then. They were terrified. But as deeply devout Christians. they prayed and hoped that something terrible had not happened to him. They checked with his siblings who were in Lagos at the time, but no one had a clue of his whereabouts.

The Adesuyis searched for Oluwaseyi at police stations and other places they thought he might be for several days without success.

“It is better for one’s child to die than be missing,” Elizabeth Adesuyi, Oluwaseyi’s mother, said. Despite the unsuccessful search, she was relentless. She prayed and fasted. Some days later, her prayers were answered.

Someone suggested they should check at the SARS office at Ikeja. They did and found his name on a register of arrested suspects. But at that point, their luck ran out of steam.

“We asked to see him. We wanted to know what happened, nobody spoke to us. We were going there every day, but nobody spoke with us. But since they said he was with them, we knew that he was alive,” Mrs Adesuyi said.

The family said the Investigating Police Officer (IPO) handling Oluwaseyi’s case was identified by an alias: Jamaica, which most of his colleagues called him. Members of SARS hardly wear the conventional police uniform. They are mostly dressed in mufti or branded SARS T-shirts and vests without name tags.

“They said this person you are looking for is an armed robber. Just for us to see him, they said no way. Till today we’ve never seen him,” she said.

Swindled by a police officer

Several weeks after the family’s repeated visits to SARS office without being allowed to see Oluwaseyi, Mrs Adesuyi received a call from a man who said he was detained in the same cell as Oluwaseyi but for a different offence. The man told Mrs Adesuyi that as he was being released from detention, Oluwaseyi had begged him to call his family. He also instructed them to speak with one of the officers at SARS office, who he believed will help secure his release from detention.

“So, we called the number they gave us, and the man said he will help us. But he said that the phone they sold was an armed robber that got it and the vehicle he got, it was an armed robber that owns it,” she said.

She said the policeman who did not identify himself, demanded a bribe of N200,000.00, to help them secure the release of their son. They said because they were desperate to see Oluwaseyi they paid. But after paying, the policeman tried to squeeze them for more money. When they could not afford the money, he stopped answering their calls and started giving them the runaround. Eventually, his number became unavailable. They later learned that the policeman had retired.

A mother’s cry for help

As her tired voice cracks with emotion over the phone, Mrs Adesuyi reminisced about her son, wondering what has become of him. She said of all her children, Oluwaseyi was most easy going but added that he has always tried to make something out of his life.

“He is gentle. He doesn’t fight. He is my third son. He was attending Adeniran Ogunsanya, but little time he said no mommy, he was no longer going. That was how he got himself involved in buying and selling. Both me and his daddy we had no interest in it. We didn’t like that he was even selling things at Alaba. But he said they get things from China they bring it in and they buy from them,” she said.

She said they just want to behold her son again.

“God says he is not dead, and I believe him. What we want if for us to trace him to any prison yard so that I will go and see him. That is all I want,” she said.

We have no records of arrested suspects – SARS

When this reporter visited the SARS office at Ikeja, where Oluwaseyi was last seen, for information about his whereabouts, he was told there was no way of knowing.

The head of SARS in Lagos, Peter Gana, a chief superintendent of police, said he only resumed this July and that he was the fifth head of the unit since 2013.

“I cannot help you because you don’t have the name of the officers in charge of the case at the time,” he said.

When asked to check the unit’s record since the name of the suspect was known, Mr Gana said the unit did not keep proper records of arrests.

“Proper records of arrest are not kept. If I take you to were statements are kept you will see that everything is placed on the floor and on top each other. Some of them are even soaked with water. The incident happened five years ago. Even if we see the file, I am sure it would be unreadable; water would have made the ink unreadable,” he said.

Mr Gana explained that he makes copies of cases he is directly involved in and takes them to his house because of the poor storage facility at the SARS office. He further explained how the unit could not find the record of a case that was investigated in February 2018 before he resumed.

Mr Gana, however, suggested that this reporter should reach out to the head of SARS in the state in 2013, Abba Kyari, for information about Oluwaseyi’s whereabouts.

When reached for comments, Abba Kyra, who is now in charge of the Inspector-General of Police Intelligence Response Team, said he cannot remember the case in question.

“Wallahi I can’t remember anything. It’s a long time. Why didn’t they look for him (a) long time ago until now?” he asked in an SMS.

When told the efforts the Adesuyis put to see Oluwaseyi, he did not reply.

SARS was set up as a unit of the police to combat some of the most violent crimes in the country. However, the unit has endeared to itself a notoriety that is hard to shake-off due to the highhandedness of its officers. SARS operatives have been accused of harassment, extortion, torture and serial extrajudicial killings and other human right abuses.

Last August, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo was virtually forced to order an overhaul of the unit’s operations following weeks of social media-driven protest, tagged #EndSARS, calling on the government to scrap the units.

A rigged criminal justice system

Segun Awosika, an activist who played a leading role in the #EndSARS campaign, told PREMIUM TIMES that the disappearance of Oluwaseyi highlights the problem with the criminal justice system in Nigeria.

“This just proves how dangerous the path is to having proper policing in a country such as Nigeria. A country with so much population and so much risk in terms of policing to the extent that people disappear at will and nobody cares. You cannot even time documents, you can’t even trace anything and get to an accountable process of identifying what could have probably happened to anybody. This puts everybody in danger.

“If a guy was picked on the streets or under the bridge today for doing nothing, just for roaming; he can be mixed-up with hardened criminals and killed within 24 hours and nobody will be able to trace him because there is no paperwork.

“So, the criminal justice system by itself is dangerously rigged to the point where nobody is safe,” he said.

He said the best way to solve the problem is a sincere reform of the police that includes a custody management system that will ensure that people arrested by the police do not disappear without a trace.

“The reform that we are looking at must be holistic to the point where we have what they called custody management system where nobody would be detained without a proper record that anybody can trace from anywhere and that is the future for policing in Nigeria,” he said.

https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/299406-how-man-arrested-by-sars-five-years-ago-disappeared-without-trace.html

This is quite heartbreaking.... Sars has really put many families into agony, you can imagine, no records or whatsoever, too many stories are pouring in, everywhere is tensed, it's now or never, let's not relent, Nigeria will be better for we all.......!!

Na WA oh. Knowing the precedent and antecedent of SARS, concerning the disappearance of this boy... well your guess is as good as mine.

FG should as a matter of urgency go through all the cases handled by SARS as far back as 2010, lot’s of innocent people being used to make devilish money, what’s the difference between this bastard SARS and ritualists?? No difference.... If your papa na SARS he no go die better dieeeeee

We have read and seen from Sars in Anambra. I know some states will be slaughter ground as well. SARS is the same everywhere in Nigeria.

This is getting interesting.....

CountryTireMan:
FG should as a matter of urgency go through all the cases handled by SARS as far back as 2010, lot’s of innocent people being used to make devilish money, what’s the difference between this bastard SARS and ritualists?? No difference.... If your papa na SARS he no go die better dieeeeee

Hope you read where it was said that SARS don't keep record of their cases?

So I wonder how it will be possible for the government to look into it.

Though I believe if the FG really wants to placate Nigerians and call a spade, a spade, a panel should be set up to look into every case of SARS brutality.

Let the FG tell every aggrieved and concerned Nigerian who have felt the horse whip of SARS to make their claim there and if any of those God forsaken SARS officers are found guilty, Kirikiri should welcome them with open arms.

I knew this kyari guy isn't what they always painted him to be.. he should be sacked too

Hausa man behaving like d drunken master james nwafor from south east

these ar the type of cases that they shuld investigate

Anybody found guilty must pay for their crime. This what Nigerians want

na wa oo

Hmmm

#EndPoliceBrutality#
#EndPoliceBrutality

I can never forget what I went thru in the hands of Policemen at Alagbon (Homicide Department)..
In May 2018, I was handcuffed, blindfolded dragged out of the cell after 14days into sienna.. and they drove me down from Lagos to Delta state to be precise Aragba Orogun village to exhume my late dad's corpse with the excuse of autopsy report, Meanwhile they have made plan with their fellow Policemen(Cousins) to transfer my late dad's body to a different state, all because of properties..
Thank God the youth's in my village Aragba Orogun did not allow them because the Policemen said the body will never be returned after autopsy(cause of their own Agenda)

The police Brutality on me continued. They still handcuffed, blindfolded me and drove all the way from delta to Benin to detain me in a police cell in Benin for two nights after they which brought me back to Lagos cell at Alagbon.

All this transpired because two Policemen(cousins) had eyes on my late dad's property, So they Alleged Me, My kid sis, My brother and my old mother for ours dad death..
Our late dad died in his own house where neither of us don't live with him but because it's was a caucus report. They took it upon themselves not to do the proper investigation instead took the laws upon themselves to maltreat me, my brother and My Old mother(they took of one of her tooth in the process of beating her.)

When our lawyer filed a case of unlawful detention and infringing on fundamental human right against them..
They quickly filed a case of Murder against us.
Where we detained in kiriki prison,
Thank God for the judge who granted us bail..
The case is still on..
I am out to join fellow citizens who have been abused and dehumaned by Nigerian Police to say no to POLICE BRUTALITY.

Omo if dem bring all Naija Cops na almost all of dem hand go dirty I'm sure sef Yellow Fever sef go dey

Hmmm, terrible ppl...Karma will visit dem one way or the other

Abba kyari ke? Send him to his name sake in the grave! No peace for the wicked!

#EndSars
#Endpolicebrutality
#Endbadgovernance

Nobody is above the law. The case should be investigated and if super cop is found wsnying, he should face the law. Soro soke my people. #Endpolicebrutality.

We move

This is the time for armed robbers and kidnappers to get back at SARS. They were evil, no doubt. I was a victim of Police Brutality at age 13. I was wrongly accused of being an accessory to a car

Police is not your friend, fear them

Abba Kyari na SARS

These guys must face the rot of the law. Nobody is above the law. Justice must take its course

We need a total revamp of everything, all the institutions are decayed... We cannot continue like this... We need to restructure (whichever of the restructure) we just need to change how things are run in this country...

No light
No work
No anything....

ok

This guy that has been forming Jack Bauer...village people don open him file