According to punch Metro;
A 29-year-old photographer, Ejeh Smith, and his
wife, Grace, 26, are in pains and receiving
treatment at a Lagos hospital after a police
officer, identified as Dada Ogunsanya, allegedly
tortured them with his rifle.
Ogunsanya is attached to the Ikoyi Police
Division.
The incident happened at the Lekki Roundabout
on Wednesday, last week, while the couple was
in a taxi en route to their home at Parkview
Estate.
PUNCH Metro learnt that the police officer was
among a seven-man team, patrolling the area
around 10pm.
The police team was said to have stopped the
taxi driver and demanded that he opened his
boot for a routine check.
The taxi driver, Ndubuisi Iheaka, told our
correspondent that after he opened his boot
which contained scaffolding belts, the policeman
demanded to see his driving licence.
“I was about getting the driving licence when he
started flashing his torchlight on my passengers
who were sitting at the back.
“The wife told the officer not to flash the torch
on them since the inner light of the vehicle was
on.
“Because of what she said, the policeman asked
them to come down from the cab.
This started
an argument. The next thing I saw was that the
policeman pulled my passenger (Ejeh) by his
trousers, and his wife went to plead with him to
stop.
“But instead, he slapped her and punched her
husband. He was wearing a ring, which inflicted
a deep cut on Ejeh’s face. After that, he used the
butt of his gun to hit him in his eye and face. He
also dragged his wife on the road.”
Grace said the policeman, apart from slapping
her, stepped on her tummy.
“If I was pregnant that night, I would have lost
my pregnancy. I was only trying to pet him to
leave my husband since he did not have
business with us. I told him to face the cab
driver and leave us alone. “The other policemen
were just looking at him while he dragged me on
the ground. A man riding a tricycle at the time
was the one who rescued me. He said the
policemen must call their Divisional Police Officer
or else he would not leave the scene,” she said.
The Ikoyi DPO, Mrs. Aisha Haruna, was said to
have arrived at the scene.
Ejeh claimed he could barely see because blood
was dripping from his eyes, while his wife was
vomiting blood. He added that the DPO ordered
that they be taken to the station to make
statements.
He said, “But we told her that we needed to first
treat ourselves before we could make
statements. That was when we were given forms
and referred to the Falomo Police Hospital. We
paid for the treatment and we also went to the
eye clinic for treatment.”
His wife claimed that the DPO seized her phone
and asked an inspector at the station to delete
all the pictures and video recording she did of
the incident.
“Even my personal data were deleted. And when I
asked the DPO why she did that, she said we
deserved the treatment we got. She said she
would have locked us up in the cell if not for our
injuries. She said we did not know how to talk,”
she added.
The family lawyer of the victims, Mr. Sunday
Agbinya, said his office would write a petition to
the Inspector General of Police to redress the
wrong done to his clients.
“This is a case of assault occasioning harm and
we intend to challenge it. We will send a petition
to the IG. We want the police to conduct a full
investigation into this,” he said.
The legal officer of a non-governmental
organisation, Project Alert on Violence Against
Women, Mr. Ben Odeh, said the police officer
responsible for the act should be disciplined for
torturing the couple.
He said, “It is a breach of their constitutional
rights. The policeman went too far.”
The Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Kenneth
Nwosu, confirmed the incident.
He said, “Yes, the incident happened in the Ikoyi
division.Inquiries are on as well as disciplinary
procedures.”
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