A Nigerian lawyer, Timothy Olamide, has disclosed how an operative of the Lagos State Police Command allegedly beat him like a “condemned criminal” when he went to the police station in Ikeja on a case that had lasted a month.
Olamide stated that he received a “merciless beating” when he went to the station on behalf of his colleague.
He noted that while at the station, a police officer cautioned him that not all cases are handled by lawyers.
While narrating his ordeal via his X profile, @Timo_Olamide, on Wednesday, Olamide wrote, “Good morning @Lagos_PoliceCRU, @PoliceNG @BenHundeyin. I am Timothy Olamide Olaniyi, a lawyer from Lagos.
“I am contacting you in respect of the merciless beating I received from a police officer at the Lagos State Police Command in Ikeja this morning.
“I went there on behalf of my colleague to find out about a client who was arrested sometimes last month but only for me to get there and was beaten like a condemned criminal. One of the officers told me that not all cases lawyers handle. I went there with all manner of respect and humility.”
In response, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin, asked the lawyer to state the section of the police station in which the incident occurred, the name of the police officer involved and also suggested that he (Olamide) could report the case directly to the state police Complaint Response Unit.
Hundeyin wrote, “Which section? What’s the name of the police officer? Or simply come over to @Lagos_PoliceCRU. It’s in the same premises.”
One X user, @KingEsene, advised Olamide to lodge his complaint to a former Chairman, Nigerian Bar Association, Lagos State Branch, who served from 2017 – 2019, Chukwuka Ikwuazom, SAN.
He wrote, “Please reach out to the learned silk immediately if you have not yet done so. @ChukaIkwuazom.”
On this, Olamide replied, “I have already done that through WhatsApp but he has not replied me yet sir.”
As of the time of filing this report, the outcome of the matter could not be ascertained by According Online.
This is not the first time lawyers will be brutalised by policemen in Lagos while carrying out their duties.
A 36-year-old lawyer, Olumide Sonupe, was hospitalised after he was said to have been detained by the police while seeking the bail of his client at the Moshalashi Police Station in the Alimosho area of Lagos State on December 30, 2023.
It was learnt that the lawyer’s health deteriorated upon his release from the police station on January 1, 2024, after spending two nights with his client in the cell.
On Thursday, January 11, some members of the Lagos State NBA branch held a peaceful protest against the unlawful arrest and detention of Sonupe
The lawyers who are members of about five branches of the NBA marched from its Ikeja secretariat, while displaying banners, to the command headquarters where the state Commissioner of Police, Adegoke Fayoade, addressed them.
Human rights activist and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana, then called on the Nigeria Police to conduct proper investigations into the case of brutality against lawyers in Lagos State.
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