Nigeria Bar Association Plans Protest As Police Remove DPO For Detaining Lawyer in Lagos
A lawyer was detained when he went to the police station to seek bail for his client. The Nigerian Bar Association plan to stage a protest tomorrow because of this matter. The Lagos State commissioner of police has ordered the removal of the DPO of that station and he is holding meetings with representatives of the NBA in order to resolve the matter.
would prove my innocence.
“We went back to the DPO after reading the statement. He said they should lock me up again, which they did. My aunt also came and asked me to withdraw my statement. After so much talk, I followed her upstairs and met the DPO again. The DPO said I should sit down and asked me what happened the previous day. I narrated everything. The DPO asked them to bring a Maltina drink for me.”
It was gathered that the DPO instructed Olumide to bring a surety. However, when his brother and aunt volunteered, the DPO was said to have rejected them.
“He said he cannot allow a woman to be a surety and he could accept my brother but I needed to bring a civil servant. My aunt told him she is a civil servant but he refused. She called someone and when he came, the DPO said he was going somewhere so we had to wait. We waited for hours but he did not arrive around 10pm,” Olumide said.
FCB gathered that Olumide’s client who had been released on bail was re-arrested before he could leave the station and was locked up with Olumide in the same cell.
He said, “The following morning, the Area Commander arrived around 4am and accused me of assaulting the DPO. He said they would charge me to court the following day. A police woman who was with me helped me up and they took me back to the cell. Some minutes later, they came to call me at the request of the Area Commander. I told them I could not walk. I was in serious pain.
“The officer went back and two officers came again and accused me of disrespecting the Area Commander. I told them I wanted to come but my legs were shaking and I needed help walking. They approached me and pulled me up but I fell back down. They lifted me and helped me to walk. The Area Commander asked me to narrate what had happened. While doing that, he asked me to move closer to him because he could not hear me. I told him I could not move my legs. He became angry and left.”
PUNCH Metro learnt that Olumide was later released in the afternoon and his client was also said to have been bailed the second time.
Olumide’s brother, who confirmed the story, told our correspondent that the appropriate branch of the Nigerian Bar Association had been informed and necessary steps were being taken to seek justice.
The DPO did not respond to calls as of press time.
When contacted, the National Publicity Secretary of the NBA, Akorede Habeeb-Lawal, said he would get back to our correspondent. He never did as of the time of filing this report.
The state Police Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin, confirmed the incident accusing Olumide of acting “without decorum”.
“Lawyers come to police stations every day without issues. He was different. He acted without decorum,” Hundeyin added.
