- Safiu Kehinde
A Lagos-based lady has called out the state Police Command over alleged assault and unlawful detention by its officers.
The lady, simply identified by her X handle as Nimisioluwa, recounted how a yet-to-be identified officer attached to the Alakara Mushin Police Station had forcefully snatched her phone while she was searching for a disabled man, she planned to buy a wheelchair for.
She claimed the officer who was on mufti accused her of recording him which she denied.
Nimisioluwa was taken to the station where she was detained and allegedly assaulted by the officer and his colleagues despite checking her and finding no video of her recording the officer.
As against the officer’s allegation, Nimisioluwa shared on her X handle on Friday the video which she was recording.
The said video only showed the X user recording herself as she explained being unable to find the disabled man, she planned to get a wheelchair for.
“Nigeria police Alakara Mushin held me because I was making a video of me going to look for the guy I want to buy wheelchair for, they took me to their office and held me for 40mins, insulting me while ransacking my phone and asking me why I was videoing them doing their job.
“They check my phone and didn’t see any videos of them and this useless man said he want to use it to teach me lesson.
“This was the video I was making before the police snatched my phone off my hand and he said I was making a video of them doing their work.
“I explained to him what I was doing, everyone around also explained to him but he was hell bent on them taking me to their station to invade my privacy.” Nimisioluwa wrote in the caption to the video.
She further accused the officers of treating her like a criminal while being detained for 40 minutes.
“I was scared for my life and my safety cos they were not putting on Uniform and they handled me like a criminal.” She wrote.
The X user in a separate video further recounted how the officer had forcefully seized her phone before taking her to the station where she further assault with a female officer alleged calling her a prostitute.
“What have I done to the Nigerian Police for holding me for 40 minutes without explanation? This man literally yanked my phone off my hand and said I’m recording him while doing his job.
“I didn’t even know he was on the other side of the road. He was putting on a mufti, Ankara. He was not putting on a police uniform.
“And this man took me to their station, Alakara. He went through my phone, invaded my privacy. And he didn’t find anything.
“Could you believe what this man told me? He said he brought me to their office to teach me a lesson. What lesson was he trying to teach me?
“The woman I met in the office to was calling me ashawo (prostitute) because of what?” She asked.
While the post had generated mixed reactions from netizens, the Lagos Police Command’s spokesperson, Abimbola Adebisi, in a comment called the attention of the Command’s Complaint Response Unit to the allegation.
“@CruLagospolice for your attention please” Abimbola wrote.