Assault on woman: Lagos CP removes DPO, queries others

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Assault on woman: Lagos CP removes DPO, queries others

Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Mr Idowu Owohunwa, yesterday, directed the removal of the Divisional Police Officer, Olosan Division in the Mushin area of the state, following an alleged attempt by some policemen to muzzle a woman, who had gone to the station to report a case of assault.

He has also directed an immediate commencement of disciplinary action against other policemen fingered in the unprofessional conduct.

The married woman identified simply as Omolara, in a video that went viral last weekend, revealed that she was slapped for turning down the love advances of a man she identified as Bebex.

In the video clip, she explained that she was returning home that fateful day and was accosted by Bebex, who rudely asked her to name her price.

Speaking in Yoruba dialect, she said: “I thought he meant the food I was carrying when he said he wanted to touch what I was holding. The next thing he said was ‘Don’t you want money?’ Even when I told him I was married he said, ‘Is your husband rich?’

“When I rebuffed him, he ordered one man named Alli to slap me and he did. He boasted that he would beat me and that there was nothing my parents or anybody could do. He even took my phone and chain. It was at that point that people who witnessed the harassment intervened.”

However, in another video of her that went viral, she claimed that what she said in the first video was not totally true.

Reactions

The second video sparked reactions from the public as some civil society organisations stepped in, where it was later discovered that she was coerced by some policemen at Olosan division to make the second video under duress at the police station.

It was gathered that the policemen allegedly collected N5,000 from the victim’s mother at the time they went to the incident the matter before they visited the scene of the crime.

It was further gathered that one of the men, who slapped the victim was earlier arrested but released and that the matter was not formally incidented until the video went viral.

The visibly angry command boss summoned all parties to his office yesterday, where he ordered the immediate removal of the DPO, over what was described as unprofessional conduct under his watch.

Commenting on the matter, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin, said: “Due to multifarious interests in this matter and the need to ensure justice, CP Owohunwa personally interviewed all parties in this case.

Community members, landlord association, councillor representing the area, the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights, CDHR, Omolara and family, Bebex and his employees and lawyers representing both sides were in attendance.

“It is elating and morale-boosting that we now have a willing complainant and as a result, a tenable case to present in court. CP Owohunwa, having carefully listened to all parties and has established that there are indeed cases to answer and has therefore, directed that the matter be charged to court immediately.

“The CP also identified professional misconduct on the part of some of the police officers involved in the case. For this, the Command Provost had been directed to immediately commence disciplinary action against the officers concerned.

“And finally, the DPO Mushin, in whose division all the officers aforementioned are serving, has been relieved of his posting with immediate effect.”