Call Your Men To Order, Lagos M/Land Residents Tell CP

Following what was described as undue harassment and intimidation by the men of Denton Police Station in Lagos Mainland Local Government Area of Lagos State, residents of the area have appealed to the state’s Commissioner of Police, Mr. Yusuf Alkali, to call men and officers of the division to order and check their excesses, alleging that their activities were becoming overbearing.

Narrating their experience, some of the residents said that they are daily harassed under the guise of ‘stop and search’ operation while they have nothing on them.

Apart from this, the residents alleged further that another method employed by the policemen to harass and intimidate them is that they don’t carry out proper investigation on matters before the suspects involved are charged to court.

According to one of the residents of Jebba Street, ‘‘the policemen don’t like to see anyone with a big envelope or bag; once a person is sighted you with any of these, he or she will be accosted and bombarded with unnecessary questions, even when they know that the contents of such envelope are legal and belong to person involved, they will still want probe further and in some cases, may tell the owner to follow them to the station.

‘‘This is not what we expect from them. There is a maxim that say ‘police is your friend,’ but reverse is the case as far as Denton Police Station is concerned. We will be happy if a major shake up is carried out in the division.’’

Another resident also complained about his friend was arrested by policemen from Denton over what he knew nothing about.

According to him, his friend was detained for several hours and had to part with some money before he was released.

The policemen were also accused of going beyond their area of jurisdiction to carry out their illegal job. The residents therefore want the police authority in the state to investigate their activities and take appropriate action.

All efforts to get the spokesperson of the state command to comment on the allegations were unsuccessful as he was said to be out of office when Lagos Bulletin visited his Oduduwa, Ikeja, Lagos office.

However, residents of Lagos Mainland appealed to the police authority in the state to check the excesses of the man of the division.

—Paul Sanusi