THE Divisional Police Officer (DPO) in charge of Ijora-Badia police division, Lagos State, Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP) Rotimi Odutona, has allegedly assaulted and in the process fractured the left hand and leg of one Saheed Akinboye, a carpenter. Akinboye, who also engages in rental services, had reportedly gone to the police division to retrieve six dozens of chairs allegedly confiscated by police operatives when they raided Ijora-Badia area sequel to a clash by suspected cultists in the area. He reportedly went to the station in còmpany of Mr. Rasak Balogun and Mrs Modupe Ojediran, both of whom were familiar with the circumstances under which the chairs were seized by the police. However, CSP Odutona was reportedly miffed by the ‘effrontery’ of the carpenter to pursue the recovery of his chairs when he knew that the cult clash that triggered police intervention had resulted in the death of one person.
The apparently impulsive and irascible police officer reportedly refused to give Akinboye the opportunity to explain himself but rather used a baton to beat him repeatedly till his hand and leg got fractured. And having literally been demobilised, Akinboye was allegedly bundled out of the station writhing in pain. It is safe to assume that the CSP had nothing to pin on Akinboye, otherwise he would have been detained rather than being bundled out of the station. There might be holes in this narrative, especially in the absence of the account of the other party, but the bottomline is that an innocent citizen has once again been viciously brutalised, and in this case, allegedly by a police officer who ought to know better. This is most unsettling and unacceptable.
The alleged vicious and embarrassing conduct of the police officer raises a few posers. Have the police any right to brutalise a non-violent criminal, let alone an innocent person? Why should an individual whose property was wrongly sequestered be brutally assaulted by a police officer just because he made an attempt to retrieve it? And indeed, what is the connection between cult killing and the seized chairs? How will the maiming of an innocent person assuage the killing of a hoodlum on the battlefield? Or should everyone pay for the indiscretions and heinous activities of the outlaws?
It should be noted that the location where the seized chairs were used for a ceremony was more than half a kilometre from the scene of the cult clash, according to the account of Akinboye’s younger brother. Why would a trained police officer who, by virtue of his duty, interacts with members of the public daily, lack the patience to listen to a complainant? Why did the training and experience of a police officer count for nothing, assuming he was actually provoked? There is the need to up the ante in the area of discipline among the officers and men of the force. The rate at which police officers abuse and infringe on the rights of citizens has become alarming. This must stop. One way to put paid to acts of indiscipline of different hues in the force is to ensure that officers and men who go overboard while carrying out their duties are severely sanctioned. The police force should not engender or brook any sense of impunity. That has been the bane of the evolution of a professional and disciplined police force in the country.
It is, however, gratifying to note that the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Imohimi Edgal, true to type, has already intervened in the matter. The erring DPO has reportedly been recalled from his duty post to the command’s headquarters. The purpose is to pave the way for an investigation of the matter by the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department as directed by Edgal. We urge that the incident be thoroughly investigated. The investigators should ensure that the outcome is not tainted by esprit de corps because a high-ranking police officer is the accused. And should Odutona be found guilty of brutalising and oppressing an innocent citizen, he should be made to face the music to serve as a deterrent to other officers and men of the force who may want to toe his ignoble path.
On the other hand, his victim, Akinboye, should be accorded some form of reparation as a demonstration that an official of the state has not wronged him with impunity. It will also be in the interest of all that the outcome of the probe and the accompanying sanctions, if any, be made public. Some unscrupulous police operatives have for a long time become a law unto themselves. It is therefore imperative to reassure the public that such officials have no institutional support for the horrible things they do.
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