Two officers of the Lagos State Neighbourhood Safety Agency (LNSA) were violently attacked with their uniforms torn into pieces during a rift between neighbours at the Otumara community in the Lagos Mainland Local Government of Lagos State.
A female victim of assault, Nneka Igwe alleged that she was beaten and had her cloth torn by her neighbour, Ogbonna Okoro and his four siblings speaking against their unhealthy habits of dumping filthy waste waters and food remnant at the rear of her one room apartment.
She explained, “There are four rooms in our compound. Ogbonna, his father and mother with his two brothers and sisters occupy the second room while I live in the third room with my two children without a husband.
There is no occupants living in the fourth room, so, Ogbonna, his father and mother and brothers and sisters decided to turn it into dumping ground. They dump their solid and liquid waste and food remnant in the room anytime they need to empty their refuse bin. The unpleasant smell oozing from the room is choking and unbearable, so, I complained to Ogbonna.
But when I did, there was no response from him. So I went for my broom to sweep the entire compound to clear the mess they created. When he saw this, he grabbed the broom from me and threw it away.
And when I went for it to continue sweeping, he started to beat me. He tore my cloth and naked in public.
I ran into my room and Ogbonna and his sisters ran after me. They held me down for the public to feed their eyes on my nakedness. Seeing how I was being humiliated, my brother, Jonathan went to report the assault at the office of the Lagos State Neighbourhood Safety Agency located within the community.
When Jonathan was returning home from the office of the LNSA, Ogbonna accosted and injured him on his head for daring to report him. He bled and he was rushed to the hospital. Not only that, he attacked the LNSA officers injuring two of them and tore their uniforms, too.
We were taken to the police station where a police officer; Sergeant Chukwuocha Augustine did not allow me to write my statement as it happened. I explained to him my poor state of health, how I had undergone two surgical operations for fibroid and child birth but he said I shouldn’t include that in my statement. I also told him about how Ogbonna and his sisters had beaten me three times but Chukwuocha said I should remove that part from my statement.
It was obvious he didn’t want me to write anything that will incriminate Ogbonna and his family. He insisted I start writing my statement right from the incident that brought us to the police station.
He asked me if anything was stolen in my apartment, I said yes and he asked me to swear if anything was indeed missing. After taken my statement, he told me to go home and return the following day but when I returned, he was always not at the station.
Narrating what led to the attack on his colleagues by the family of Okoro who torn the uniform of his colleagues, one of the officers of the Lagos State Neighbourhood Safety Agency (LNSA) attached to Otumara community, Sikiru Olaiya said, “We got a distress call from a resident that some people were beating a woman and had stripped her naked. We went there to invite the suspect, Ogbonna, his two sisters and three brothers that participated in the violent assault.
But when the complainant was returning home, Ogbonna attacked him for daring to report him to us.
So, we went for Ogbonna to be taken to Iponri police station for further actions. But he resisted arrest and attacked us. He attacked and tore the uniform of two of our officers. Their uniforms were soaked in blood. We took the torn uniform and the woman whose cloth was also torn to the station Iponri as evidence against him.
But instead of acting on this, police sergeant, Chukwuocha Augustine, released Ogbonna and his siblings to return to the community tormenting residents.
About few days ago, we arrested a suspect for phone theft. The suspects as we gathered was an ex-convict. He would sprinkled grinded pepper to the eyes of his victim and robbed them of their valuable items. When he was arrested, he made confessional statement at the Iponri police station in the presence of all officers and victims whose phones he stole.
But again, Chukwuocha released him to return to the community. As we make efforts to cleanse the community of criminal elements, the police, especially, Sergeant Chukwuocha are releasing them to return to the community. They frustrate our efforts at crime prevention in the community.
“Anytime we arrest cultists and criminals, they end up being released by police officers at the Iponri police station.”
When contacted to react to the allegations of misconduct and aiding criminal suspects levelled against officers at the Iponri police station, Spokesman, Lagos State police command, CSP Adekunle Ajisebutu, through an SMS said, “Let me find out what happened. I will surely get back to you.”
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