Last Friday, some police officers
attached to the Lagos State Task Force on Environmental and Special
Offences Unit illegally arrested residents in the Lekki and Victoria
Island areas of the state.
attached to the Lagos State Task Force on Environmental and Special
Offences Unit illegally arrested residents in the Lekki and Victoria
Island areas of the state.
One of the victims, Stephanie,
who was raided alongside her friends at about 11:45PM has come out to
share her story of how they were physically and sexually assaulted by
the so-called officers.
who was raided alongside her friends at about 11:45PM has come out to
share her story of how they were physically and sexually assaulted by
the so-called officers.
She posted videos and pictures of the
men dragging them into the cell. In one of the videos, an officer was
saying that anyone that brings N10,000 will be released immediately.
men dragging them into the cell. In one of the videos, an officer was
saying that anyone that brings N10,000 will be released immediately.
She wrote:
On Friday, the second of September 2016, I was picked up from my home at 11:45PM by my friends Emma and Albert. We headed to Ntyce club
to meet the party posse for Albert’s birthday celebration. After
spending a few minutes there, we decided to change locations because it
was overcrowded.The party posse consisted of me, Emma, Ochuko, Jessica, Peace, Ifeoma, Albert, Atiku and Sam. We all headed to The Place
in Lekki Phase 1 in three separate cars. Emma and I got out of Albert’s
car and noticed a tussle going on and we speculated that it was
probably a bouncer and someone trying to get into the club or something
along those lines.As Emma and I were crossing the
street, someone suddenly grabbed me by my skirt and Emma’s bra in the
process. At first we thought he was trying to rob us, we began to scream
and Albert and the two other guys with us rushed to pry his hands off
us. His grip was so tight and his face so determined, it was obvious he
had no plans of letting go. That was the first grip of fear I felt that
night. He let go only after he had torn my skirt and ripped Emma’s bra
in two (I didn’t even know that was possible). The guys tried to chase
him off but he brought out handcuffs and said he was a police officer.He called out to some other men and
that was when we realized we weren’t the only ones being accosted. They
started yelling at us, they were armed and began to shoot in the air and
shove us into their trucks. We tried to resist but they threatened to
shoot us if we didn’t comply. The so called ‘Police Officers’ were
heavily intoxicated and stank of alcohol. They targeted the women and
roughly shoved us into their Task Force trucks. Albert refused to let us
go alone, he got into the truck with us while the other two guys
followed in their cars from behind.The truck was dark, grimy and had a
foul smell. There were other girls and two guys in the truck, the place
was in chaos- people were crying, screaming and making calls on their
phones. I was surprised by how calm I was through the whole ordeal,
sitting at the back of a dark truck, bleeding from my leg and wondering
if I was going to die.They drove around for about twenty
more minutes and continued to pick up random people and dragged them
forcefully into the truck, all within Lekki and Victoria Island region.One particular girl stood out to me,
she fought so hard to get away from the Task Force. She had been about
getting into her car when she was forcefully dragged away, she kicked
and screamed for them to let her go. To my utter disbelief, one of them
put his finger into her vagina. People watched helplessly but couldn’t
do anything to help us because they were armed.After a long tumultuous ride, we
found ourselves in their Task Force office in Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos
Mainland. The people that carried out the raid were different from those
at the station.We were herded
like cattle, put in a straight line and paraded in front of their
colleagues like criminals. We were directed to a very disgusting room
and all asked to squat, when some people refused, one member of the task
force began to hit them with an aluminum rod.When we initially refused to get into the cell, this man forcefully dragged us in.I need you to picture what the
holding cell looked like. Imagine a small bedroom with a bucket latrine
in the corner, the whole room reeked of urine and feces. Thirty girls
packed like sardines, insects and arthropods visibly crawling on the
walls, there was no ventilation and it was poorly lit. We had to stand
for hours inhaling that terrible stinking cell, there were two pregnant
women among us and also an asthmatic patient. Our captors refused to
listen to our pleas for help, we could barely breathe in there and we
were worn out, frustrated, injured and drowsy.I had texted my friend Dayo
earlier explaining the whole situation to him, he started looking for a
solution from Abuja where he was. He put me in touch with an aid to the
Vice President’s office who in turn promised to engage DIG Agala and DCP Adeoye, Chief of Operations of Police, Lagos State.They initially pretended that they
didn’t want money but later on, they began to ask us how much we would
give so we could be released.Peoples’ family and friends were
outside for hours, pleading to bail us out for something we didn’t even
do. Their pleas fell on deaf ears though because the officials didn’t
allow them enter the compound till 7AM.I and my friends were later released
around 8AM after Atiku’s military contacts came through. I am unsure of
how much they paid to get us out but I do know that other people paid
10-15 thousand Naira to them.What they did is a betrayal of the
trust that we put in the police. They made it an alternate source of
income since they could no longer openly exploit motorists, they decided
to prey on innocent young women. They are going to face justice for
their actions.Following the incident, Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State has requested the redeployment of the police officers involved in the inhumane act.
The Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Steve Ayorinde, said in a statement in Lagos on Tuesday that the governor had sent the request to the state commissioner of police.
“The governor has sought an immediate
redeployment of several of the taskforce officers from the unit, and
possibly from the state, over what the he calls unacceptable
conduct. The request became necessary in order to checkmate the
reoccurrence of the unauthorised raid and indiscriminate arrest of
citizens who were out to have fun on Friday night,” he said.
redeployment of several of the taskforce officers from the unit, and
possibly from the state, over what the he calls unacceptable
conduct. The request became necessary in order to checkmate the
reoccurrence of the unauthorised raid and indiscriminate arrest of
citizens who were out to have fun on Friday night,” he said.
Ayorinde said preliminary investigation
showed that the raid was carried out with the knowledge of a
high-ranking member of the task force, but without the approval of its
chairman.
showed that the raid was carried out with the knowledge of a
high-ranking member of the task force, but without the approval of its
chairman.
He noted that such conduct was not in tandem with the vision of the State Government and was therefore condemnable.
“Their conduct is also unbecoming of
officers who are expected to protect the citizenry and ensure that
citizens and visitors find every part of the state safe and conducive
enough, not only on Friday nights, but every day,” he said.
officers who are expected to protect the citizenry and ensure that
citizens and visitors find every part of the state safe and conducive
enough, not only on Friday nights, but every day,” he said.
Ayorinde, who apologised on behalf of
the government, said the state would not condone acts of
high-handedness, extortion and disregard for human rights.
the government, said the state would not condone acts of
high-handedness, extortion and disregard for human rights.