Kayyus Taiwo, a Twitter user with the handle @taokayaode, has narrated how he was harassed and wrongfully arrested by men of the Oyo State Police Command for standing in front of a business centre.
Taiwo said he was arrested on October 12 while waiting for the business centre owner to appear so he could photocopy some documents.
In a long Twitter thread, Taiwo narrated on October 20 that he was harassed and beaten by the policemen on the said date.
“On Wednesday, October 12, 2022, I was harassed and beaten by the Nigeria Police Force and even unlawfully locked up and spent a night inside cell,” Taiwo wrote.
“I was sent by my boss to help him submit an application at a Computer Centre on my way back home from work. So, I went to a popular market in Ibadan to do it. I searched the market and found a place but the woman said she couldn’t do it. She now described another place for me.
“I got there and met the shop closed from the outside, but the inner shop was not locked; there was a placard placed outside with caption, “Wait for me, I will be back in a jiffy”. So, I had to wait. While waiting, these policemen came. They were like 7 to 9 in number.
“Only about few of them were in uniforms, while others were in muftis. They burst the market and some people ran away.”
POLICE BETRAYS HIS CONFIDENCE
With a feeling of innocence and confidence that he had no implicating material on him, Taiwo said he did not move an inch from where he stood.
“I didn’t run away since I had nothing bad on me. While I was standing, they came back and met me standing, asked what was inside my bag, I showed them everything.
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“It was two pens, one exercise book, my I.D cards (Both voter card and Work I.D. card) phone charger, a power bank and my oga’s money.
However, Taiwo’s confidence and the harmless items in his bag were not enough to keep him off the police trouble.
“One of them, maybe their boss just commanded that they should carry me; they just carried me inside their bus (a white painted unofficial bus).
He said some other people were arrested on their way to the station.
“I entered and I was asking them series of questions, ‘where are you taking me to, what did I do, what’s your station’s name?’ I even phoned my boss, he asked me same questions, even requested to speak with them, but they did not answer. They seized my phones and my boss kept calling,” he said.
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“But they didn’t allow me pick up my calls. For like 10 minutes we kept going. They stopped on the way and went to see someone at one big complex.”
A SHOUT FOR HELP
At this point, Taiwo became more worried for his own safety.
“I was afraid if I hadn’t been kidnapped by them disguising to be police officers. Meanwhile, only about 3 of them were left inside the bus with me,” he wrote.
“I managed to move to the entrance and shouted for help that I had been kidnapped, that people should help me.
“I kept shouting like it was my only way of survival and they never stopped hitting me. I was overpowered and taken to the back seat and they handcuffed my two hands and even threatened me.”
BRUTALITY AND REPRESSION
As Taiwo kept shouting for help the officers rushed back to where the bus parked.
“That was how all of them ran into the bus and started hitting me to go back. I kept shouting and they were still hitting me with the weapons in their hands,” he wrote.
“We later met one other bus like their own with their officers inside and they handed me over to them where I found another guy that they have also tortured and they removed one handcuff from my own hands and use dit to handcuff him as well.
“They left the spot due to the scene I created, because some people were videoing us.”
TRANSFER OF THEIR VICTIMS
Taiwo’s ‘abductors’ would later transfer him to another vehicle.
“We later met one other bus like their own with their officers inside. They handed me over to them where I found another guy that they have also tortured and they removed one handcuff from my own hands and used it to handcuff him as well,” he wrote.
“Some minutes later, the two busses were fully loaded. They took us all to their station late around past 7 p.m. They handed us our bags before we entered the station.”
“ATTEMPTS TO REACH OUT TO HIS RELATIVES STIFLED“
Immediately Taiwo was handed his bag, he reached out for his phone to contact his boss and relatives.
“I took out my phone inside the bag and messaged my boss, while trying to reply my brother’s message,” he wrote.
“One of their officers saw me typing, came to me, slapped me and collected my phone.
“They took our statements and took us straight to the cell for committing absolutely no offence, they asked me to enter the cell, but I refused and was begging them that my brother and boss would come.
“The officer pushed me in, locked the gate. Then, the guys inside started punching me for refusing to enter in the first place. He was asking if they that were inside were animals, collected the money that was inside my pocket, despite some injuries I had sustained [sic].”
“HIS FREEDOM REGAINED AT A COST”
Taiwo said he eventually spent a night inside cell for no reason.
“I spent the night there with the odours, the heat and the pains,” he wrote.
“The following day between 12 to 1 pm., I was bailed out (with money) by my brother, leaving only 4 others left out of about 9 of us that spent the night in their cell.”
POLICE RESPOND
After it got wave of the thread, the Oyo State Police Command, via itTwitter handle, responded to the complaint and hinted that Taiwo had been directed to speak with the Commissioner of Police on the matter.
“In the spirit of neutrality and transparency, he was given the direct phone number of the Commissioner of Police to speak with,” the police wrote.
In another tweet, the police said that the Commissioner of Police had ordered a full-scale investigations into the case.
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