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Christopher Oji
A Lagos based medical doctor, Ojo-Adedeji Adeboye, has called on the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Mohammed Adamu, to obey the order of the Federal High Court, Lagos, by returning the N22.9million and two vehicles unlawfully and forcefully taken away from him in the course of investigation of a civil matter involving him and his estranged wife. Adeboye has, therefore cried to President Mohammadu Buhari to prevail on the IGP to obey the court order and return the money to him.
In a February 12 judgement by Justice C.M.A. Olatoregun, the court had granted all the reliefs sought by Adeboye in the application he brought before the court seeking the enforcement of his fundamental rights as guaranteed by the constitution of the country.
By a motion on notice dated December 7, 2017, Adeboye and his second wife, Adedeji Aderemi Mutiat, had sought the enforcement of their fundamental rights sequel to their unlawful detention by officers of the police
Their detention was purportedly hinged on a petition written by Adeboye’s estranged wife, Funke Ogunseye, over the allegation that the N163million Funke paid through Adeboye’s brother in South Africa for the supply of apple fruits had been diverted.
Adeboye whose younger brother resides in South Africa had linked up with the brother to assist Funke, his wife (when their marriage had not failed) in facilitating the payment for the shipment of containers of apple fruits she was importing into Nigeria. She was said to have had foreign exchange problem and her husband’s brother offered to help resolve by going through a bureau de change in South Africa.
The first transaction was said to have been successful following which the suppliers of the apple in South Africa made supplies of N163million worth of the product on credit. She was said to have subsequently paid the N163million into Nigerian bank accounts given to her by her husband’s brother. The money, the equivalent of which was supposed to have been paid to the South Africa supply company, did not reportedly get to the creditors.
It was based on the suspicion that her husband Adeboye may have a hand with the South Africa based brother that Funke chose to write a petition to the IGP, calling for investigation.
According to the Federal High Court judgement, while the police have the statutory obligation to checkmate crime of any kind, the same police were not constitutionally authorised to infringe on the rights of persons who are suspected to be answerable to certain alleged offences as evident in the case of Ojo-Adedeji Adeboye and Adedeji Aderemi Mutiat both of whom were unlawfully detained by the police for one month and four days respectively.
Justice Olatoregun, in granting the several reliefs sought by Adeboye and Mutiat, held that the police by law is not a debt recovery agent and, therefore, was wrong to have gone far in forcefully ordering the withdrawal of the total sum of N22.9million at three different times from Adeboye’s bank accounts and subsequently seizing his Lexus Jeep RX 330 SUV.
