Balikis, the wife of Adeoye Abayomi, has accused the Ogun State Police Command of unlawfully detaining her husband who was arrested around 9pm on Friday, July 28, 2023, by policemen from the Sango Police Division.

PUNCH Metro gathered that Abayomi, 24, who is a commercial motorcyclist, was dropping off his passenger at Lotopik Hotel, Sango Ota when he was picked up by the policemen on patrol and had been detained for three days.

Balikis, who spoke with PUNCH Metro on Monday, said the police were demanding N50,000 to free her husband for an offence that was yet to be known.

She said, “My husband didn’t have any money on him and he decided to just work a little so he could get something. At that hotel where he waited to withdraw some money from a Point of Sale operator, the police arrived and arrested him. It was around 9pm and he was taken to Sango Police Station.”

“The police told us on Sunday when we went to their station that a responsible man should not be outside at 9pm. My husband does not get home late, it was just 9pm. They have taken him to the High Court today.”

The woman, who betrayed emotion, wept that her husband’s “hair was shaved at the station. My husband didn’t commit any offence, he’s an easygoing person. He should not go to prison.”

The mother of one said her child was just about clocking one year and they were struggling to make ends meet.

Another member of the family, Yetunde, who also spoke with our correspondent, said, “I made a call to the Divisional Police Officer yesterday, he said the phone should be given to the officers at the counter but the officers refused to take the phone. Today, we learnt they were at the court. The man’s wife is a sister to me in the area.”

In the same vein, a civil society organisation, the Take It Back Movement, tackled the police for allegedly unlawfully detaining Abayomi beyond 48 hours.

The Lagos State Coordinator of the group, Adekunle Taofeek, said, “Without stating his offence, Abayomi was locked up, his dreads shaved off, and subsequently detained for three days. Upon intervening through our chapter, the DPO of the division, CSP Saleh Dahiru, hurriedly charged him to court without allowing him access to lawyers and family. This is condemnable, to say the least. “

Contacted, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Omolola Odutola, said she had contacted the area commander over the matter.

“I have sent this to the Area Commander,” she simply told our correspondent in a WhatsApp chat.

@Punch Newspaper