BY TIMOTHY AGBOR, OSOGBO
A man, Elusanmi Kolawole, has narrated how he was beaten, black and blue, by some police officers, who, he said, forcefully took away his vehicle.
Kolawole who had approached the Osun Judicial Panel of Inquiry on Police Brutality, Human Rights Violations and Related Extra Judicial Killings at its resumed hearing on Thursday to seek justice, alleged that his fundamental human right was violated and also accused the police of complicity, fraud and stealing by trick.
The petitioner said he was arrested and tortured by the police officers who accused him of buying and selling a stolen car.
He, however, said he explained to the officers that he got all necessary documents for the vehicle before he sold it to another person, a claim which according to him, was turned down.
Kolawole said, “I was in my house that fateful day when I saw about five fully-armed police officers who had come to arrest me. I was beaten mercilessly and forced into the vehicle and taken away.
“When asked why I was arrested, I was told that I sold a stolen vehicle, an allegation that I knew nothing about. Though, I bought a vehicle few months to my retirement with the aim of using the vehicle after I retire but I had to return the vehicle immediately it was delivered simply because it wasn’t my choice of car.
“The car was sold to me at the rate of N220,000, out of which I paid N100,000 to the owner as deposit. When I made a move to return the car, I was asked to look for a buyer after which the person that sold the car to me and myself took it to someone that needed the car.”
The petitioner added, “The new buyer paid the sum of N220,000 and I removed my N100,000 from it and gave the rest of the money to the person that sold it to me.
“But a few weeks later, five police officers came from Mogbon Police Division in Ogun State, alongside the person that sold the car to me and I was bundled out of the house around 1:00am and taken to Zone 11 here in Osogbo.
“I was there for a few days and later released but the car was taken to Magbon Police Station in Ogun State where it was allegedly sold to another police officer.”
He said all efforts to retrieve the vehicle proved abortive but that he later got to know that the car had been sold to a police officer in Ogun State.
Kolawole noted, “Part of the efforts taken to get the car back after it was taken to Ogun was that I personally went to Zone 11 to report the matter and one of the senior officers who showed interest in the matter ordered his boys to go after the officers involved and retrieve the car.
“Though for their two trips to Ogun State, I spent about N100,000 which they collected as transport fare. Upon this, they couldn’t retrieve the vehicle but it was established that one of the officers, one Superintendent Ayuba had sold the vehicle to another officer.”
“Since then, the police have been shielding the erring officers to the extent that when I returned to Zone 11, I was told that the case had been resolved within the top ranking officers.
“As I speak, I am still refunding the man I sold the car to. I appeal to this panel to do justice on this matter,” he added.
The Chairman of the Panel, Justice Akin Oladimeji (retd) adjourned the case to March 18, 2021, for further hearing.
Also, a case filed by one Mrs. Oluwatoyin Adetona, whose two kids were allegedly killed by the police in Ilesa was heard by the panel. The matter was also adjourned to March 18, 2021 for further hearing.
