A lounge owner in Osogbo, Osun State, Adekunle Ayomide, has accused the operatives of the anti-robbery squad of the Osun State Police Command of assault, claiming he was ‘mercilessly’ beaten and brutalised with a matchet and other hard objects by the officers.

The trouble began last Friday when the second-in-command of the squad, Adedokun Yusuf, visited the lounge and had a disagreement with one of the female employees.

Adekunle, who was supervising the activities of his establishment, reportedly rushed to the scene and instructed the other workers to return to their respective duty posts, while he tried to resolve the issue with the police, whom he thought were customers.

Infuriated by his instruction, Adekunle explained, the policemen allegedly assaulted him, claiming he (Adekunle) was being disrespectful in front of them.

Speaking on the incident, Adekunle expressed his embarrassment at the situation, noting that the officer felt humiliated that one of his workers had left his presence. According to Adekunle, the officer then vowed to teach him a lesson.

“The officer went out and make some calls and minutes later, some three guys arrived in a pink coloured Toyota Corolla vehicle, one of them wore police jacket. Yusuf pointed at me and on getting to my place, one of them instructed that I sit on the floor but I refused.

“They went out and later returned with a silver-coloured Corolla car and insisted that I get into the car. I inquired what was my offence, rather than explaining my offence, I was bundled into the car and they drove me straight to their office located at the Police command headquarters.

“On getting there, Yusuf took a cutlass. One of his subordinates took a big stick and started hitting simultaneously, instructing that I should remove my clothes and lie on the floor. While I was asking my offence that warranted that I should lie down, Yusuf was matcheting me and the other guy hitting me all over my body till I succumbed to their wills.

“After which Yusuf continuously beat me with the Cutlass fifteen times. Later my friends arrived and called an officer who facilitated my release around 6:30pm”.

Continuing, the young man called on the Inspector General of Police, IGP Kayode Egbetokun; the State Commissioner of Police, Ibrahim Gotan, to assist him get justice by ensuring the accused officer explain his offence to the world.

“It is unfortunate that a law officer can annihilate me after coming to enjoy himself at my outlet and ended up dehumanizing me without any reason. I am pleading with the Inspector General of Police, the Osun State’s Commissioner of Police to investigate the incident with a view to getting justice for me and curb similar act of injustice from happening to others,” he added.

When contacted, the Osun Police Command spokesperson, Abiodun Ojelabi, said the command is “aware of the incident and is currently investigating the said officer with a view to unearthing the truth.” (Nigerian Tribune)