By SUNNY OKIM

Police officers from Adigboluja, a border town with Lagos State in Ifo Local Government Area of Ogun State, on Saturday locked up two apprentice workers of a hairdressing salon inside their

shop until they purportedly suffocated.

The said police officers led by the Divisional Crime Officer (DCO), were said to be enforcing the lockdown order issued by the state government due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.

An eye witness account has it that the two workers by name Jumoke and Okikiola, had opened the shop on Saturday morning when the police officers from the nearby station emerged.

"The policemen pushed the two workers inside the unventilated shop laden with heat, as there was no electric power that morning. The police used handcuffs and iron chains to padlock the shop and left the workers inside for about two hours," narrated the eyewitness.

News Expresswas reliably informed that by the time the policemen returned to open the shop and bring out the workers, they (workers) were already suffocated and were vomiting.

The two victims were then rushed to a nearby facility for medical attention where they were revived.

When our Correspondent went to the scene of the incident, the two workers were still sitting, and

looked worn out.

They confirmed that the policemen locked them up for about two hours before they were brought out, almost dead.

When contacted, the Divisional Police Officer, Mr. Akinuade initially dismissed the incident as a "cooked up story".

Said the police boss, "Why should you listen to this sort of cooked up story? As a journalist, you should do your investigation. Go and investigate."

The DPO then charged at our Correspondent,

"Go and bring those people here (police station). If they get here I will put them in the cell and take them to court on Monday for disobeying state order."

But when confronted with photographs in custody of News Express, the DPO said it was actually his DCO who led the team on operation that Saturday morning.

He claimed that the policemen on duty might have locked up the shop to prevent onlookers from stealing items from the (hairdressing) shop while the policemen were away.