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.
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