That the residents of Lagos State were not only rattled, but also unsettled sometime in December 2013, following the human rights abuses allegedly committed against two women in the Ejigbo area of the state, who were accused of stealing some pepper, is no longer the news.
What is, however, news is that the case may have been swept under the carpet, after all! A competent source at the Lagos State Criminal Investigation Department, Panti Street, Yaba-Lagos, told The Point that the case had been kept aside, adding, “Even some of the civil rights activists that were making noise about it that time have also been silenced, after their mouth were juicily stuffed.”
The source also alleged that some prominent Lagos white-cap chiefs had stepped in and secured the freedom for the accused persons, including a traditional ruler, said to have ordered the inhuman treatment meted out to the victims.
The Police source alleged further that the affected victims, who suffered dehumanisation, had also been cajoled into accepting monetary compensation, instead of seeking justice, and had now dropped charges against the suspects.
A police source said, “They have also been threatened to leave Nigeria and go back to their country, Benin Republic.
“I learnt they gave the women some money; I think about N2million each, while the right activists also got some unspecified amount to forget the case. Well, as for us (police), even if something comes to us, we the small boys will not see it.
It is our ogas (superior officers) that would pocket everything.” A front-line woman activist in Nigeria, who also spearheaded the arrest and prosecution of the suspects in the case, Dr. Joe Okei-Odumakin, could not be reached for her comments.
Okei-Odumakin did not respond to either the phone calls or the text messages sent to her mobile phone. The incident, became public, when the footage of the incident, where the two women were shown being stripped naked by a group of young men, who battered them and later administered pepper in their private parts, was posted on the social media.
The two victims were alleged to have gone to a pepper seller’s shop at the Central Market, Iyana Ejigbo in the night and stole pepper before they were caught by a group of vigilance officers, who descended on them.
Irked by the incident, President of Women Arise for Change Initiative, Odumakin, on December 23, 2013, led a protest to the Lagos State House of Assembly and submitted a petition on the need for the lawmakers to intervene and ensure justice was done to the victims.
Ejigbo, one of the Local Council Development Areas created during the administration of former Governor Bola Ahmed Tinubu, had been a haven of peace until that December, when the Women Arise for Change Initiative, a human rights group, led by its President, Odumakin, decided to take the bull by the horn, and demanded justice over the inhuman treatment meted out to the two women residing in the area.
The human rights group had gone to the Lagos State House of Assembly to protest as well as submit a petition on the alleged ‘inhuman assault’ on the two women, which otherwise would have been swept under the carpet.
Interestingly, after the awareness protest, public anger and condemnation heightened against the act and its perpetrators, but the anticipated justice that would have served as deterrent to the offenders is still far-fetched.
The human rights group based its claim on the 1999 Constitution as amended in Chapter 4, section 34, which states, “Every individual is entitled to respect for the dignity of his person and accordingly, no person should be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment.”
Consequently, the House, led by the then Speaker, Rt. Hon Adeyemi Ikuforiji, promptly, set up an Ad-hoc Committee, headed by the then Majority Leader of the House, Hon. Dr. Ajibayo Adeyeye, to investigate the matter and report back to it with a view of resolving it and bringing the perpetrators to book.
The committee later convened a stakeholders’ meeting that comprised representatives of Women Arise for Change Initiative, led by Odumakin herself; civil society groups; the police; Community Development Committee, Ejigbo branch; representatives of Ejigbo LCDA; and market leaders in Ejigbo, amongst others. Also present at the meeting were Hons. Adefunmilayo Tejuosho, Olumuyiwa Jimoh and Segun Olulade.
Adeyeye, during the stakeholders meeting, described the incident as “unacceptable and barbaric.”
At the end of the meeting, the state House of Assembly announced a million naira cash reward for anyone who could provide vital information on the two women who were assaulted in the Ejigbo area of the state, while the committee also pledged N250,000 for anyone who could give a lead and vital information to the committee on the women.
“Nobody is here to witch-hunt or castigate anyone, but how to unravel the mystery. Anybody that gives information that leads to the arrest of the perpetrators of the heinous act shall be given N1million and personally I will give the sum of N250,000 from my own pocket,”Adeyeye promised.
After weeks of painstaking investigation in collaboration with Ejigbo LCDA, led by the then chairman, Mr. Kehinde Bamigbetan; Ojon of Ejigbo, Oba Moruf Ojoola; chairmen of Community Development Areas, market leaders and youth groups, the suspects were at last apprehended and later handed over to the police for further investigation and possible prosecution.
Before the arrest of the suspects, it was learnt that the state police command, in order to show seriousness on the issue, redeployed the Divisional Police Officer in the area and posted a new officer with the mandate to produce the suspects for prosecution.
The issue also generated a lot of heat in the community, as tension grew over the whereabouts of the suspects.
Nobody seemed to be coming up with useful information. As part of measures to speed up the arrest of the suspects, Iyana-Ejigbo Central Market, the market where the crime was committed, was subsequently shut down indefinitely.
With the effort of the traditional ruler and leadership of CDAs, a number of suspects were arrested and later handed over to the police. After initial interrogation by the police, innocent persons were let off the hook while the police zeroed in on the prime suspects, who were initially put in the custody of the police for thorough investigations before prosecution proper.
The Inspector General of Police at the time, Mohammed Dahiru Abubakar, had also stepped into the issue, when he ordered Force Headquarters to take over investigations into the assault.
Consequently, crack detectives from the Force Criminal Investigations Department were deployed from Force Annex to commence fresh investigation into the ugly incident.
Confirming the IG’s directive in a statement then, Force Public Relations Officer, CSP Frank Mba, said, “In a decisive resolve geared towards ensuring the speedy delivery of justice, promoting the rule of law, discouraging impunity and defending the fundamental human rights of Nigerians, particularly the alleged victims of the Ejigbo pepper torture, the IGP, MD Abubakar, has ordered an immediate takeover of the case.
“Also, all suspect(s) and all exhibits related to the matter are to be taken over from the Lagos State Police Command by a crack team of detectives from the Federal SARS, (Lagos Annex), Force Criminal Investigation Department.
The IGP wishes to assure all Nigerians, especially the family of the victims and other relevant stakeholders that the police will leave no stone unturned in ensuring that justice is done in the Ejigbo case.”
The IGP, therefore, called on all Nigerians to continually partner with the Nigeria Police, particularly in the area of providing relevant information, with a promise to protect the confidentiality of all informants and whistleblowers at all times.
He commended the civil society organisations, especially Odumakin’s Women Arise for Change Initiative, Oba Moruf Ojoola, the Nigeria Police and Lagosians for their efforts in fishing out the culprits.
However, Odumakin, while reacting to the latest development, stressed that the Lagos State House of Assembly had restored confidence in the people because, “the House has done the needful by dotting the ‘i’s and crossing the ‘t’s so that those who carried out this stone act are apprehended.”
She pleaded that the House should ensure that justice was carried out to the letter. Odumakin reiterated that with the House’s achievement on this case so far, “All hope is not lost, justice belongs to all of us; not only the rich or the middle class in the society”.
The then Ejigbo LCDA boss, Bamigbetan, in his reaction, stated, “The first time I watched the video clip on December 3, 2013, I spent two minutes watching it, and during the second time, on December 7, 2013, I watched the full clip of eight minutes, two seconds, and I felt seriously sad about the inhuman treatment metted out to the two women, just because they were alleged to have stolen pepper.”
While responding on the ability of police to prosecute the matter justly, Odumakin stated, “Well, it is too early to doubt the police ability to prosecute the case well.
For now, I want to give the police the benefit of the doubt in this matter and believe that they will prosecute the case well. However, the case is already popular among Nigerians, even Nigerians in Diaspora.
The market, which was once closed down following the incident, has since been re-opened. Though the residents are afraid to comment on the incident, it was gathered thatthe familIES of the victims haD deserted their apartmentS, following series of threats to their lives and properties
So, we are all going to monitor the proceedings and update ourselves. Meanwhile, at Ejigbo, the atmosphere has been one of indifference. The market, which was once closed down following the incident, has since been re-opened.
Though the residents are afraid to comment on the incident, it was gathered that the families of the victims had deserted their apartments, following series of threats to their lives and properties.
As it now stands, the case appears to have been consigned to the dustbin of history, even while those seeking justice are still crying foul.
