Police detain US-returnee, 2-month-old baby over alleged bribery

A woman, Mrs. Toyin Adeleye, her two-month-old child named Heritage and her younger brother have cried out over alleged beating by policemen at a checkpoint in Ado Ekiti, and were also detained following what they said was refusal to pay ‘settlement’ at a checkpoint in Ado Ekiti, the state capital.

They said they were detained overnight at the New Iyin Road Station after their statement was eventually taken after alleged brutality, at  about 10 pm in the incident they said started at about 3pm on Friday.

They claimed that their offence was that they refused “to settle” the policemen at the checkpoint, located near the Commissioner of Police’s Lodge and the State Pavillion.

She further claimed that they were stopped at a checkpoint at the Pavillion where the incident took place and said they were afterwards taken to the New Iyin Road station, where she further alleged that they were beaten and dehumanised.

The police, she said, also impounded the black Kia Picanto car with registration number Lagos FKJ 221 EE in which they were travelling in.

Her husband, Mr. Akanni Adeyeye, who said he also spent the night at the station in solidarity with his wife, said: “My wife and her brother were returning from the market at about 3.00 pm, on Friday, and on arrival at the checkpoint in front of the Pavillion, very close to their station, they were asked for the vehicle papers and driver’s licence which were produced and are valid.

“After checking all the documents, the policemen demanded for money as ‘settlement’ which my wife and her brother refused. My wife drew their attention to the baby that was crying in the car.

“Five of them were beating her at the point of arrest and on getting to the station, the beating continued. After thoroughly beating her, they obtained her statement around 10.00 pm. There are wounds on the back of my wife and face as proof.

“On getting to the station, they now cooked up a story that my wife slapped one of them and tore his uniform which is a lie. They are telling this lie to justify their cruelty to my wife, my baby and my brother-in-law.

“Neither my wife nor her brother slapped any policeman or tore any uniform. The question to be asked is  how would somebody who is not armed attack an armed policeman?”

But the Commissioner of Police in the state, Mr Abdullahi Chafe, when contacted on the telephone, said that Mrs. Adeyeye was detained for allegedly slapping a policeman on duty and tearing his uniform adding that the matter was still under investigation.

Chafe said: “Those people slapped my policeman on duty and tore their uniform. Uniform is an authority and what those people did was against the law and it is not good for a civilian to slap a policeman.

“It is not good for somebody to prevent a law enforcement officer from carrying out his lawful duty. Somebody wearing the uniform? It is not about his age, but the authority he carries. I don’t allow my men to do something contrary to the law.”