A
human resources manager, Kamil Mahmud, has alleged being threatened by some
operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad.
The
26-year-old claimed that the men threatened to drink his blood for allegedly
disrespecting them.
Punch gathered that Mahmud had driven
behind his brother’s car to the Ikeja area for an interview on a radio station
on Thursday.
They
were returning on Friday when three policemen allegedly accosted them at the
Agidingbi area of Ikeja.
Speaking
with Punch correspondent on Sunday, Mahmud said he was about parking by the
roadside when the operatives cocked their guns and threatened to shoot.
He
said, “I waved my hand to tell them that I was not running away and I just
wanted to find somewhere to park. I was thinking it was going to be a normal
civilian-police conversation. But I realised the situation was getting more
aggressive even before I got down from the car.
“One
of the policemen asked me to come down from the car and told my friends and my
brothers, who were driving behind me, to stay back.
“I
came down and he said he wanted to search the car. I told him to go ahead. But
before he even tried to search, he had started manhandling me.
“I
told him that he had not even asked for my name or who owned the car I was
driving and what I did for a living.
“He,
however, searched me and the car without finding anything incriminating.
“I
don’t drive with my shoes on; so, when I got down, I was barefooted. I told the
three officers more than five times that I wanted to get my shoes, but they
looked at me with no response.
“The
moment I tried to get my shoes, the policemen went berserk and started slapping
and hitting me. One of them was shouting that he drank blood and he was ready
to drink my blood. He pulled my shirt and trousers and threw me into their
vehicle, a Sienna, without a number plate.”
According
to Mahmud, a passerby who wanted to intervene was threatened with a cutlass.
He
added that he had attempted to beg the officers when one of them further beat
him with a cutlass.
The
Edo State indigene said, “As I sat on the back seat of their car, one of them
put handcuffs in my hands. They never told me what I did wrong.
“The
one who assaulted me with the cutlass started the car and drove to Ikeja GRA.
On getting to the Area F Police Commad, the officers refused to enter the
premises and I told them that they should take me inside the station and file a
report because I really wanted to know what my offence was. They shouted at me
that I still had the mouth to talk.
“The
officer driving had a bottle of gin in front of the car; he was drinking and
driving. They later negotiated with my brothers and demanded N15,000.
“My
brothers went to use the ATM at Conoil Filling Station, but the ATM did not
dispense cash. Then one of the policemen got angry and started driving towards
Oba Akran Road. When we got there, he parked and waited for my brothers.
“My
brothers came and told them that they were able to get N8,000. They collected
it, removed the handcuffs from my hand and told me to get out of their car.”
Mahmud
demanded the arrest and prosecution of the policemen, adding that he was robbed
by the law enforcement agents.
He
said the cops wore the F-SARS jackets and had guns with police tags.
The
Lagos State Police Public Relation Officer, CSP Chike Oti, said, “They are not
SARS officials because SARS officials in Lagos State have uniforms that have
code numbers with which they can be identified easily and SARS officials in
Lagos State are under the instruction of the Commissioner of Police not to
conduct stop and search in Lagos State.
“However,
the complainant should come forward to give us vital information about the
officers, so that we can arrest whoever the people might be; but I know that
they are not SARS officials.”
- Punch
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