Police absence stalls suit on detention of security guards

The fundamental rights enforcement suit filed by three security guards who were allegedly detained for days on the orders of Badejoko Adeniji, a former chief judge in Oyo state, was stalled Wednesday due to the absence of a police lawyer.

The suit, instituted by security officers from the Kolapo Ishola estate in Ibadan, was adjourned to January 14, 2019, by a high court in the state after attempts to settle the matter out of court was reported to have been frustrated by parties in October.

Following the report of the arrest and detention of the three guards from the estate by security officers allegedly working on the instruction of Mrs. Adeniji; the detained men through their lawyer, Yomi Ogunlola, approached the court demanding compensation for the alleged abuse of their rights.

The suit had the Oyo state Commissioner of Police, Aremu Olusola; the Special Anti-Robbery Squad leader in the state and Mrs. Adeniji as its
respondents.

Mr. Ogunlola said the police were expected to appear in court along with other respondents but that they were not in court.

“The case could not go on, because the representatives of the police were not in court. The court, in its wisdom, then directed that they be served with hearing notices, and the case was subsequently adjourned.”

Ogunlola explained that the case was forced to return to court because of the failure of parties to reach an agreement outside of court, after the previous hearing.

Members of the Special Anti-robbery Squad have been enmeshed in various cases of indiscriminate arrest and detention of Nigerians, with the Police Force wilfully neglecting court cases, in some
instances.

Leave a Reply