BY TIMOTHY AGBOR, OSOGBO
A human rights group, Centre for Human Rights and Social Justice, has petitioned the Acting Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun over an alleged illegal detention of a nursing mother and her baby by some officers of Agugu Divisional Police Station, Ibadan, Oyo State after releasing the suspect identified as Oyewumi Adekola.
The group said in the petition that the nursing mother, Mrs. Mubo Sulaiman and her eight months old daughter, Ashabi, had visited the station to report a case of domestic violence attack against them by Adekola, their co-tenant, popularly known as “Sinbomky.”
It was learnt that the woman was allegedly beaten by the suspect at the Gbelekale area of Ibadan before the victim reported the matter at the police station last Thursday around 8.51pm.
According to the group’s Executive Chairman, Adeniyi Sulaiman, one Inspector Kehinde who attended to the victim told her that the police could not arrest the suspect, Adekola, because he is “a friend of the police in the area.”
“But, when pressure was mounted by the woman, the suspect was arrested on Friday June 23, 2023 around 8 o’clock in the morning after collecting the sum of Three Thousand Naira (N3,000) from the innocent victim/complainant and the suspect was released few hours later by the police and the woman was turned to a suspect and she was detained alongside her eight months old daughter till the time of filing this report on Saturday June 24, 2023 and not knowing the time she would be released by the Police from their illegal detention,” Sulaiman explained.
He disclosed that the female complainant was detained alongside her baby allegedly on the instruction of the Divisional Crime Officer with the Investigation Police Officer identified as Mary.
The activist then called on police authority in the country, particularly, the Commissioner of Police in charge of Oyo State, to wade into the matter and ensure that the victim and her baby get justice and compensation.
He called for the immediate re-arrest of the suspect for possible prosecution at the court of competent jurisdiction.
Sulaiman also demanded disciplinary action or outright dismissal against the aforementioned police officers including their Divisional Police Officer for allowing the alleged illegality and criminality.
The petition letter dated June 23, 2023 was addressed to the Oyo State Commissioner of Police and other concerned authorities including, the Acting Inspector General of Police, Chairman, Police Service Commission, Office of Oyo State First Lady, Chief Judge of Oyo State, Oyo State House of Assembly Speaker, Assistant Inspector General of Police in charge of Zone XI, Osogbo, State and Federal Ministry of Women Affairs, and National Human Rights Commission.
“The suspect, Oyewumi Adekola-Sinbomky, believed that he could do evil and go unpunished because he knew the police at Agugu Police Station, Ibadan. But, CHRSJ believes that the police officers should perform their legitimate and constitutional duty without fear or favour, no matter whose ox is gored.
“The unprofessional conduct of the police officers attached to Agugu Divisional Police Station, Ibadan, is unbecoming of trained police officers that are being paid with taxpayers’ money and it shows that they are not fit and qualified to be called police officers of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“And CHRSJ is not surprised that the suspect (Oyewumi Adekola-Sinbomky) could go to the extent of threatening the life and beating his co-tenant’s wife with eight months old daughter in the absence of her husband because it was learnt that suspect is a wife beater and that has been his usual character. As we all know the high rate of violence against women in our society today where many precious lives of women had been lost to gender based violence,” the petition read.
When contacted, the DCO of the station, Superintendent of Police, Carol, denied the allegations.
