A 27-year-old private security guard in Osogbo, Osun State capital, Olakunle Ewuoso, has expressed concerns over threats to his life following his face-off with operatives of the Department of State Service (DSS) which left him partially paralysed.

It was learnt that a DSS officer identified simply as Sola, who was not in uniform, and one other person had gone to shop around Ogo-Oluwa with a motorcycle they parked on the road that leads to the restaurant. Ewuoso, a guard at the restaurant, was said to have pleaded with them to remove the motorcycle from the road but they refused.

The refusal of the DSS officer to move his bike reportedly led to a heated argument that degenerated into a fracas between them. A video sighted by our correspondent shows two men brutalising Ewuoso by lifting him up and slamming him on the ground while residents of the area make efforts to intervene.

Investigation revealed that after the brawl, Ewuoso was invited to the State Command of the DSS alongside his bosses to write statements and was directed to report at their command the following day to resolve the issue finally.

It was, however gathered that when he reported at the Command as directed, he was subjected to further torture with axes and cutlasses on the excuse that the officer he had an altercation with got wounded during the brawl.

Speaking with our correspondent from his hospital bed, Ewuoso said he has been living in fear after the torture he was subjected to at the DSS Command.

He said: “On Wednesday, while I was on duty I saw a bike man with his passenger parking their motorcycle on the road that leads to the parking lot of our restaurant.

“I approached them and pleaded that they should repark their motorcycle. The rider pleaded that they would not be staying there for long, so I should allow them to park at the spot.

“I explained to them and the rider agreed to re-park the bike, but the passenger objected to it, saying who was I to tell them where to park on a government road.

“I told them that their bike was parked at the entrance of our premises and it would disturb customers who might want to patronise us.

“He held me and threatened to slap my face if I made further comments. I was very surprised because I had never met him before.

“I told him it was a matter of common sense that the place where they parked the bike leads to a business premises.

“But he shrugged and told me that if I knew who he was, I would have run away. I told him that no matter who he was, he should do the right thing.

“The man, who wore a sky blue striped shirt, felt offended by my statement, so he slapped and punched me. I was about defending myself when his partner who road the bike joined him in beating me.

“When passersby and some of my colleagues saw what was happening, they attempted to rescue me from them. That was when the passenger introduced himself as Shola, a DSS officer.

“He also told the people ‘don’t come near this if you don’t want to smell yourself’. The statement made people to stay away from us while some of them set up their phones to do video recordings.

“They beat me to the point that I lost my strength, it took the intervention of some of the boys in the area to rescue me.

“After that, they left the scene hurriedly because a mob was already gathering against them.”

After the brawl, said Ewuoso, some DSS operatives visited his workplace and took him to their Command headquarters in Osogbo.

“When I arrived there, they started beating me. They slapped me repeatedly, saying that I was so bold to beat their officer. I was begging them not to kill me. I told them that their officer was the one that beat me and I didn’t even know that he was an officer because he was in casual wear.

“I was at the command with my boss and the owner of the restaurant, who also pleaded and we were released that night. They told them that they should come with me the following day (Thursday). I cried all through the night.”

“On Thursday morning, when I visited the command with my bosses, they took me to a separate place while my bosses were taken to a separate section so that they could write statements.

“At the place where I was kept, some officers started to torture me. I was beaten with cutlasses on my back while they used the butt of an axe to hit my kneecap repeatedly.

“They said they would render me useless so that I would not be employed by any security organisation again.

“After the beating, they said I should be reporting to their command every day for seven days.

“I did not see Sola at the scene, but I felt that he arranged with his men to subject me to that kind of torture as if I was the one that beat him during the initial brawl.”

Ewuoso added: “I could no longer walk after I was tortured. I don’t have feelings in my legs again. I was carried from their command to this hospital for treatment.

“And they are threatening that if I fail to report to their command by 10 am every day for seven days, they would arrest and might kill me.

“They said they would make my death look like a kidnap. I didn’t want to talk to journalists about it because they (DSS officers) may feel offended. But one of my brothers assured me that they will pursue the case legally against them (DSS).

“I am living in fear. I heard the news that some of their men killed a police officer at a popular bar in Osogbo last year without justice for the family of the policeman.

“I am living in fear. My life is under threat. I pray that my case will not be like that of the policeman they killed without justice. Nigerians should help me. President Bola Tinubu should help me.”

However, the spokesman of DSS, Peter Afunaya, dismissed Ewuoso’s allegations as a beer parlour gossip in a telephone conversation with our correspondent.

“This is beer parlour gossip. Get your facts right and professionally, then you can ask your question,” he said.

But a top DSS official in the state, who asked not to be named because he was not the one authorised to speak on the matter, disclosed that official investigation into the matter had commenced, describing the claims made by the private security guard against the DSS official as lies.

He said: “The Issue between the private security guard and our officer was a case of two fighting. In fact, they mobilised themselves in scores to beat him up at the scene. The security guard bit off the finger of the DSS operative. It was a terrible situation.

“When our officer reported at the station, we drafted our men to the scene and saw armed hoodlums hanging around. We invited the owner of the restaurant alongside the private security guard to our office, and they wrote statements.

“They were never tortured. We don’t know about the claims of beating him with axe and hammer.” (The Nation)

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