The Inspector General of Police, Mr. Olukayode Egbetokun, and the Chairman of the Police Service Commission (PSC), Mr. Solomon Arase, have been petitioned by a journalist, Mr. Onome Amawhe, over his alleged unlawful arrest by an Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) in Zone 2 Command Headquarters, Lagos over a disagreement between him and his landlord.

In the petition dated September 28, 2023, entitled, ‘Complaints of Abuse of Office, Illegal Detention and Victimisation against ACP Isah Lawal and W/Inspector Jennifer Akaibe of Zone 2 Command Headquarters, Lagos,’ ACP Isah Lawal was said to have summoned Amawhe to Zone 2 through a phone call from a woman inspector named Jennifer Akaibe for a July 13, 2023 meeting.

The invitation followed the landlord to the petitioner, Mr. Ahmed Alade’s complaint that his rent was yet to be paid.

Amawhe alleged that he explained to ACP Lawal that the landlord had ignored his repeated complaints that the apartment had a defective roof which eventually led to the destruction of the art pieces in his house valued at $15,000.

Amawhe also said the six months being owed the landlord was not intentional as he had been given an unacceptable quit notice which was in defiance of the Lagos State Tenancy Law.

Lawal, the petitioner alleged, despite the explanation, ordered that he be detained and threatened to arraign him in court on trumped up charges if he failed to pay the outstanding rent.

Amawhe also explained that before the encounter with the police, the disagreement with his landlord had been handled by the Citizens’ Mediation Center, an agency of the Lagos State government for resolution of landlord-tenant disputes.

He said in the July 6, 2023 resolution reached with Ahmed Alade, the landlord undertook to pay for the destroyed artworks after he, Amawhe, would have paid for the rent arrears.

The earlier intervention by the mediation center was explained to Lawal, but Amawhe said he chose to illegally intervene against the warning of the Police Service Commission, the petition alleged.

On April 6, 2023, the Chairman of the Police Service Commission, Dr. Solomon Arase (rtd), a former IGP, had warned personnel of the Nigeria Police Force to desist from involvement in issues of land matters and debt collection, saying such issues are meant to be handled through alternative dispute channels.

“When I got inside the cell, I tried to inform my family of my whereabouts, but ACP Lawal denied me access to my phone. The next day, the woman Inspector came for me and I was handcuffed and taken to court to be arraigned. I wasn’t sure what I was going to be arraigned for. I was first taken to Tinubu Magistrate Court, which did not sit that day. In an apparent desperate move, I was taken to another magistrate court in Ikoyi, which also did not sit”, the petition stated.

After spending three nights in detention at the Zone 2 Command Headquarters, Lagos, Amawhe said his associates and friends paid the rent.

“I was released from cell in the evening of July 20th. Up until now, Isah Lawal and his team did not make mention of my damaged art pieces or made effort to verify my claim. They simply allowed Mr. Alade walk away without addressing the issue of my damaged art pieces which I raised at the point of interrogation”, Amawhe stated in his petition.

“In my case, ACP Lawal willfully infringed on my rights and freedom. After an agency of the Lagos State government with well-defined tasks to resolve issues similar to that between Mr. Alabi and I had heard from both sides and gave a ruling in line with the law guiding landlord-tenant relationship, ACP Lawal illegally took over and unfairly took sides with my landlord. ACP Lawal did not stop there. He used the premise of inviting me to a meeting to illegally detain me, denied me access to my family, my telephone and legal representation. He kept me in detention for five days and could have been much longer if fellow detainees had not offered a route to reaching my friends.”

According to Amawhe, despite the landlord having been paid, he did not issue any receipt but has been sending him messages, including voice notes to quit his apartment without issuing a formal quit notice and has failed to address the issue of his destroyed artworks which he valued at $15,000.

The petitioner asked the Inspector General of Police to call Lawal to order.

He also asked the police to protect him from the said landlord who, he alleged, has been threatening to “deal with me if I don’t quit his building even though he has not issued me a formal quit notice or paid for my destroyed artworks”. (Daily Independent)

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