An Ado-Ekiti resident, Mrs Olufunke Elizabeth Ogunyemi, has petitioned the Inspector General of Police, Usman Baba, over alleged unlawful arrest and detention by a team of the IGP Monitoring Unit on the order of a governorship aspirant, Otunba Demola Popoola.
In the four-page petition in which the National Human Rights Commission and the International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA) were copied, Popoola was accused of unlawful arrest and detention of the victim, usurpation of powers, assuming jurisdiction on matter already before the court of competent jurisdiction, and instigating forceful collection of cheques by men of IGP Monitoring Unit, Force Headquarters, Abuja.
The petition by Barrister L.A Fasanmi of L.A Fasanmi and Co alleged that the governorship aspirants in the recently-concluded primary election in Ekiti State arrested Ogunyemi and subsequently used unlawful power to detain and intimidate her.
Part of the allegation was that the team of the IGP Monitoring Team, on the night of March 28, 2022, stormed the office premises of woman, arrested and detained her at the Police Headquarters in Ado-Ekiti, where they denied her access to her lawyer and medications before being arraigned in court.
The petition also alleged that after being whisked to Abuja, the victim was forced to write another statement as against the one she made in respect of the case already at the High Court in Ado-Ekiti, wherein she was made to indict herself that she was owing Otunba Popoola Ademola and consequently compelled to signed two different post-dated cheques of ten million naira each for the governorship aspirant.
The petition wondered why the IGP Monitoring Unit, Force Headquarters, Abuja would embark on the alleged illegal act knowing that the case was already before a court of competent jurisdiction, an act tantamount to contempt of court.
It therefore called on the IGP to investigate the matter and sanction officers involved, alongside Otunba Demola Popoola.