When two policemen came to arrest 48-year-old Mrs. Kemi Ojo in her home on October 24, 2011, she thought it would only require her to make a statement at the police station and return home to her children.But the arrest turned out tragic. She did not live to tell the story of what transpired at the station. Besides, neither her relatives nor children went with her when she was arrested.Its sad that those who have sworn to protect lives and property are the ones making our lives a living hell, one of her children, Feyisayo, told PUNCH METRO amidst tears.It was gathered that a day before the tragic incident, Kemi was arrested by the policemen attached to the Adeniji Adele Police Division, Lagos.Feyisayo, 20, said the family later discovered that the policemen had no right to arrest her mother in the first place.She said, My father, Olaoluwa, is a car dealer. He had previously been involved in a business transaction with his partners, Messrs Sanni and Adedokun. They sold a particular car and the ideal thing was to share the profit.Unfortunately, the person that the profit was kept with absconded with the money and this caused friction between him and Adedokun.All efforts to get the money back proved abortive and Adedokun came to our house to issue threats, saying that he would get my father and Sanni into trouble if they did not give him his share of the money.Feyisayo said on October 24, Adedokun brought two policemen around midnight to arrest her father but he was not at home. So, the policemen resorted to arresting her mother in his stead.She said, Around 11:15pm, just immediately after saying our evening prayers, we heard a bang on the door and immediately we opened it, we saw the policemen and Adedokun.My elder brother asked to see their identity cards and they presented themselves as Inspector Hamza and Jide. I dont know Jides rank.When they did not see my father, they arrested my mother in his stead and told us that they were going to detain her until my father showed up.PUNCH METROgathered that the policemen also arrested Sannis wife. Sanni was also accused of conspiring with Olaoluwa to rip Adedokun of his share of the profit.Feyisayo told our correspondent that she and her siblings immediately called to notify their father of what had happened and he promised to visit the station early the next day.As promised, Olaoluwa went to the police station and expected that his wife would be released. But the policemen allegedly resorted to delay tactics and kept him for several hours.It was learnt that when the waiting game was dragging for too long, the policemen eventually told him that his wife had died.Olaoluwa, who spoke with our correspondent on the phone, said, I went to the Adeniji Adele Police Division to secure my wifes release but was told by the policemen that she had been taken to hospital. They did not disclose the hospital.After hours of waiting, they finally told me that my wife was dead and had been taken to mortuary at Isolo General Hospital.Feyisayo said investigations carried out by the family revealed that the policemen, who had arrested her mother, did so without prior authorisation.She said, We live on Oremerin Street in Ketu, which means that we are under the jurisdiction of Ketu Police Division.The policemen that came to arrest our mother did not inform the supervising police station which means they acted outside their jurisdiction.Also, it was learnt that the two policemen in question were not authorised by the Adeniji Adele Police Station to come and make the arrest.The family lawyers firm, Kajola Chambers, in a petition to the Commissioner of Police, Lagos State Command, Yakubu Alkali, noted that the deceased was not taken to the police station for questioning but was led to an unspecified location.It reads in part, The two policemen did not report their mission at the Ketu Police Station. Why did they insist on taking an innocent woman at that time of the night (11:15pm)'If the lady developed an illness as the policemen claimed, why didnt they take her back to her house and allow her family to take care of her' It is the firm suspicion of the deceaseds relations that those policemen maltreated her to death.It was gathered that the case had been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department for further investigation.A policewoman attached to the SCID, who spoke to our correspondent on the condition of anonymity, said the deceased probably, was hypertensive because the statements made by the policemen indicated that shortly after her arrest; she started vomiting and suddenly collapsed.However, Feyisayo said the claim was an afterthought. She insisted that her mother was in good health when she was arrested, adding that: My mother was not hypertensive at all.It was gathered that the deceased was buried on November 18 at Igede-Ekiti, Ekiti State.When contacted, the spokesperson for the state police command, Mr. Samuel Jinadu, said the deceased was not arrested but was only invited to assist the police with investigations.Jinadu said, The man in question (Olaoluwa) was accused of theft and the police went to his house to arrest him but he wasnt there. The wife (deceased) then agreed to take the policemen to the location of her husband.However, when she got into the car, she got into a heated argument with the complainant and she died immediately. She did not die in police custody.He added that the two policemen had been detained and were being investigated at the SCID.
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