Metro
How EFCC Officials Allegedly Tortured Lagos Clubgoers, Forced Out Naked Couple
Customers and workers at the Lakers Lounge Hotel and Bar, Ikorodu, Lagos State, have accused officials of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission of subjecting them to torture during a raid on the facility.
PUNCH Metro gathered that the workers were attending to customers at the club when the armed officials invaded the premises around 11.30pm on Friday, June 3.
The officials, who were said to have presented no warrant, also allegedly removed the closed-circuit television in the course of the operation.
They allegedly ordered customers and workers to lie on the floor and beat up those who protested against the raid.
A customer, Oladapo Ogunyinka, said the EFCC officials seized peoples’ phones, adding that he had yet to recover his seized property.
He said, “I left Ikeja with two guests to have fun at the club. We were upstairs when the EFCC operatives invaded the premises with guns and sticks. One of them, Olumide, approached our direction with a gun, seized my iPhone PRO Max 13 and Samsung Galaxy A22 valued at N900,000 and ordered us to go down.
“When we got down, the operatives told us to lie down flat. Immediately, the official that seized my phones started doing a video record. The officials went to the hotel attached to the club, broke the doors and brought lodgers outside. There was a particular couple that came out; the man was wearing only boxers, and the lady, a pair of pants and a bra.
“There was a lady that started convulsing due to the shock of the incident and one of the officers still beat her with a stick and said she was pretending. They treated people like animals; if I am lying, they have the CCTV footage with them, they should play it.
“They tied us in pairs of two; I explained to one of the operatives that I was a realtor that just came to the club to have fun and he informed the officer that led the operation from Ibadan, Chris Odofin, and I was untied. But they did not release my phones.”
Ogunyinka said the operatives instructed him to visit the EFCC office at Ibadan, Oyo State, to ask for one Momoh to claim his phones, adding that despite visiting the office, he had yet to retrieve his property.
“I had nothing incriminating on my phones, so I visited their office, asked for Momoh, who took me to where the seized phones were kept, but I didn’t see my phones. I became angry and started shouting and luckily, I was able to identify the person that seized my phones and Momoh also saw the officer.
“So, their boss had to intervene and told Momoh to call the officer. Their boss, who is a woman, gave them 72 hours to produce my phones, but till date, they have yet to produce them. It is surprising that I gave my phones to an EFCC official and he stole my phones instead of tendering them as exhibits.
“The incident was a nightmare. They harassed customers and workers at the club and didn’t even interview most people. I explained everything to their boss in Ibadan and she was just apologising,” he added.
The Human Resources Manager at the club, Ajoke Quadri, said the EFCC officials presented no warrant, adding that business activities at the club had been paralysed after the raid.
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She said, “The EFCC officials destroyed the club’s property; they burst my office and the safe where I keep staff documents. They also destroyed the camera room, took all the DVR and hard drive and cut the wires connecting the CCTV.
“We also have a hotel attached to the club. They took the master card from our receptionist, went to the hotel’s rooms and the rooms where the master card wasn’t letting them to gain entry, they broke down the doors, raised the beds up and brought out lodgers.
“About 105 people work with us; but those operatives harassed my staff, including Gloria Nwankwo, and one of my supervisors, among others on duty. We had to rush the supervisor to a hospital as he could not hear properly after the attack.
“They also burst my boss’ office, took away three tablets used to punch in sales; they took two phones we used for receiving company transfer alerts. All staff and customers’ phones were taken; most of my staff had to go to Ibadan to retrieve their phones.
“I had to also go to Ibadan to retrieve some of our property. It was when I got to Ibadan that I was able to assist some of the people, including a nurse that was arrested at De Butler’s club, but had no money to return to Lagos.”
Recall that officials the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency recently raided the club and allegedly brutalised customers and damaged some property.
CCTV installed on the club premises revealed as the NDLEA operatives ordered customers to raise their hands while they searched their pockets, bags and purses one after the other.
As seen in the video clip, customers, who resisted the search, were beaten and forcefully dragged from the club during the raid.
In 2019, men of the Anti-Cultism Unit of the Lagos State Police Command also invaded the club and seized from its customers and workers valuables and cash running into several millions of naira.
The management of the club had sought redress over the incident as the Lagos State Police Command arrested 13 of the 19 police operatives for professional misconduct.
Counsel for the club, Femi Martins, lamented the constant raids on the club by security agents, noting that some rivals were trying to perpetrate unfair actions to run the club out of business.
A rights lawyer, Inibehe Effiong, said a lot of victims had been wrongly arrested and stigmatised in the guise of searching for Internet fraudsters, adding that those whose rights were violated should seek redress in court.
He said, “EFCC in recent times has become arbitrary in the way its operatives go about the discharge of their functions. There have been several allegations about the highhandedness of the commission in handling cases regarding cybercrime.
“In their attempt to go after the so-called Yahoo boys, they continuously violate the rights of innocent people. It is expected that before such an operation takes place, a proper search warrant would have been obtained to enable the commission to have legal access to the private property of citizens whether it is built for business or residential purposes.
“And a search warrant has to be targeted at a specific property and individual. Before a search warrant is issued under the administration of criminal justice act, there has to be reasonable suspicion.
“In a situation where they just invade premises and pick people indiscriminately, and begin to scout for evidence implicating the people that they have arrested, it is not a lawful way of enforcing the law.”
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The spokesperson for the EFCC, Wilson Uwujaren, had in a statement said the commission arrested 140 suspects in separate sting operations at popular hotels, including Lakers Lounge Hotel and Bar and De Butlers, following credible intelligence on their involvement in internet-related fraud.
“Items recovered from the suspects include exotic cars, electronic devices, laptop computers and mobile phones. The suspects will be charged to court as soon as the investigations are concluded,” the statement said.
Contacted for a follow-up reaction, Uwujaren said, “There is nothing to add to the statement that we issued.”
PUNCH.
Metro
Rivers: Siblings Flog Teacher, Lock Up Admin Officer For Flogging Brother
There was pandemonium on Monday morning at a secondary school in the Agip axis of Port Harcourt, when the family of a J.S.S.1 student simply identified as Favour, allegedly accosted a female teacher, Sonia Amadi on her way to work and whipped her for allegedly flogging their child inappropriately.
Also, they allegedly went into the school compound and locked up the Admin Officer identified as Joy Ajayi, inside her office and threatened to do the same to her.
It was gathered that it took the intervention of other parents to prevent the family who had physically assaulted the female teacher from beating up the Admin officer.
Speaking with newsmen, an Admin Officer of the school, ‘Silver Bird International School’ Agip, Mile 4, in Port Harcourt, Joy Ajayi said she was in her office on Monday morning when three boys matched in, locked the door and said they wanted to flog her.
She stated, “One of the boys carried the scissors we used in doing school work and threatened to stab me. He asked why should they flog his brother in this school.
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“All the teachers came out that there was no need for them to take this thing to that extent. But they refused to open the door. There was a parent inside here with me and we were resolving an issue.
“So the parent had to start begging them that they should calm down. They were here for more than 15 to 20 minutes. My teachers were outside trying to get inside but they could not.
“They were saying they would flog me and that we should go and call the Police or lawyer. I now said I have a right to defend myself. As I was talking, that was when their father came, and said they should open the door. They opened the door and their father now said he wanted to take his family and that he would come back later.”
She narrated how the group used a cane on one of the teachers, saying, “Before they came to my office and locked me up, a teacher was flogged, my English teacher Sonia Amadi when she was coming to school.
“They flogged her seriously. She is in the office and I have to ask her to calm down. The mother of the boy also slapped her as she was coming to school.
“The same people who came to my office had already accosted my teacher and flogged her seriously. As she was entering the gate they followed her and matched straight to my office, “she added.
It was gathered that the management of the school has lodged a formal complaint at the Ada George Police Division where the teacher was issued a medical form to visit the clinic for treatment.
When contacted, the spokesperson for the State Police Command, Grace Iringe-Koko, said she was yet to receive a report on the incident but promised to find out and get back to our correspondent.
Iringe-Koko, a Superintendent of Police, had yet to do so as of the time of filing this report on Monday afternoon.
Meanwhile, a rights group, the Centre for Basic Rights Protection and Accountability Campaign, has condemned the alleged assault on the female teacher and invasion of the school by the student’s family.
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The National Coordinator of the group, Price Wiro, in a statement, said the parents of the student should have reported to the Ministry of Education if they felt their child was treated inappropriately or the Police in case of physical assault rather than taking laws into their hands.
Wiro called on the Police to ensure a thorough investigation into the incident and anybody found culpable should be made to face the law.
He stated, “We condemn the invasion of the school by the student’s brothers and the locking up of an admin staff on account that she flogged their child in a manner that they considered inappropriate.
“I want to advise parents that if you feel that the way your child was treated in school is not right, there are channels for seeking redress. If there are physical signs of assault you can go to the police or the Ministry of Education to make a formal complaint.
“Resort to self-help by taking the laws into your hands is not the way to go. I therefore call on the Police to thoroughly investigate this matter anybody found culpable no matter how highly placed should face the law.”
PUNCH
Metro
PHOTOS: Police Shoot Protesting Women In Delta, Five Hospitalised
No fewer than five women from Oteri community in Ughelli North Local Government Area of Delta State are currently in a critical state at the Central Hospital Ughelli as police attached to the Ughelli Area Command allegedly opened fire on them during a protest.
The protesters armed with leaves, accused the police from Ughelli Area of illegal arrest, molestation, and intimidation.
Speaking from her hospital bed, Miss Valentine Adomi, 24, a tailor, said, “I was on my way to the market to buy materials when I saw my family people at the front of the police station, and I alighted from the motorcycle to inquire from them why they were there.
“Immediately, I heard sounds of gunshots and tear gas, and I saw people running, and I was also running back. I felt something touch my leg that made me not be able to run.
“I heard people shouting that I had been shot on my right leg by the police. They rushed me to Central Hospital Ughelli after I lost much blood,” she stated.
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Also speaking, Mrs. Vivian Aphiare said, “The number of police road blocks from their division to Oteri is over five, and for that reason, no tricycle or Keke would want to come towards the community.
“As if that is not enough, they would come into the community to arrest our people illegally, and when you get to the station to make an inquiry, they will ask you to bail your wards between the sum of N150,000 to N200,000.
“We were actually protesting to the palace to meet and complain to our royal father about the activities of the police, but on getting to the front of the police station, the police shot tear gas toward us, and as if that was not enough, they opened gunshots on us without any iota of provocation.
“We want the police to leave the Oteri Road because we are tired of their excesses, intimidation, and illegal arrest and molestation of our children and husbands.”
On her part, Mama Harvest Ugbuwiako said, “We are protesting against the numerous roadblocks belonging to the police, the illegal arrest of our children, and the searching of their phones for no just cause.
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“The police use the PoS machine to check the accounts of our children to know how much they have in their various accounts.
“The police have roadblock at Emurotu Isodje, GRA, Back of Government College, and front of the Ughelli Police station respectively, and for that reason, no biker or Keke rider would be willing to come to Oteri.
“We don’t have armed robbers and kidnappers in our community, but the police are making life difficult for the people of Oteri-Ughelli as their multiple check points caused transportation to increase from N100 to N500.
“They opened tear gas on us, shot at us, and one of our daughters was shot on the leg, and she is currently on admission at Ughelli Central Hospital. Many others were physically injured.
“Police are meant to mount roadblocks at the end of a community and not at the center of a town. They took three mobile phones of our children, iPhone 13, iPhone 8 and iPhone 12—and beat our woman secretary with planks.
READ ALSO: 2023: Why INEC Servers Failed To Work – Peter Obi
“They planked other women with wood, and they are currently receiving treatment at different places. We do not want police on our roads again.” She insisted.
Lamenting the torture of the police on them, the President General of the Oteri-Ughelli community, Hon. Erakpofoke Peter, said, “What happened today was a peaceful protest by the women to tell the world that they no longer need police in Oteri because of their illegal extortion.
“Their activities in the Oteri community are extremely inhuman, and we want to beg the government that we are no longer interested in the police station; they should look for a new site to go and leave our land.
“Our women no longer go to the market and when the new DPO was posted here, I told him about our challenges, and he saw reasons with me and promised that he was going to do something about it.
READ ALSO: Underbridge Tenants: Lagos Govt Uncovers Identity Of Ring Leader
“The women came out to protest against what the police did in Oteri, they destroyed the young man’s properties, his television, and carted away so many things from the apartment.
“The activities of the police has gone so bad that as of 9:00 p.m., you will never see a bike or Keke coming to Oteri because of their extortion, brutalisation, molestation and illegal arrest and as a result, they could not go market again, and that is their grievances.”
Those currently on admission are, Valentine Adomi 24, Edith Itive 37, Akaeze Joy 22,
Loveth Brown-Tate, 42, with an injury to her right eye, Mrs. Lucky Philip, 48, with an injury to her right hand; and many others.
Contacted for reaction, Delta State Police Public Relations Officer, SP Bright Edafe, did not respond to phone calls to his mobile phone as at press time.
VANGUARD
Metro
Edo Court Remands Man, 30, For Allegedly Defiling Minor
A Benin High Court on Monday ordered the remand of one Osasumwen Vincent, who allegedly defiled 11 years old at Correctional Custodian Centre, in Benin.
The 30-year-old suspect was arraigned on one count charge boardering on rape.
The state prosecutor, Mrs Hamma Iyamu earlier said the suspect sometimes in October 2022 at Ohovbe Quarters in Benin Juridical Division forcefully raped the 11-years old girl.
READ ALSO: Man Arrested For Allegedly Defiling Minor Inside Mosque Restroom
According to the prosecution, the suspect committed an offence contrary to section 4 and punishable under section 5 (1)of the Edo State Violence Against persons (prohibition) law
,2021.
He, however, but pleaded not guilty.
Justice Efe Ikponmwonba, subsequently, ordered his remand at the correctional facility and adjourned the case until June 10 for hearing.
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