The Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of Noforija, in Epe, Lagos , has been cautioned to limit his activities to the work expected of a police officer and not to dabble into civil matters or infringe on the fundamental Human rights of citizens.
This advice was given in a live broadcast on Bond FM radio station on Tuesday, January 23, 2024, by the executive director of Human Rights Monitoring Agenda Global Resource Initiative (HURMA), Comrade Buna Olaitan Isiak, while addressing general complaints on human rights violations from the general public at HURMA’s office.
According to the presentation, a letter was sent to the office of the Human Rights Monitoring Agenda by Mr. Salami Idris Adebanjo, a lecturer at Lagos State University of Education, over continuous threats by the DPO of Noforija Division, Gregory Ikpehkia, and continuous ‘invitation’ to the police station over a land matter pending in court.
Mr. Salami Idris, in his letter to the DPO of Noforija Divisional Headquarters, a copy of which was sent to HURMA office, explained why he could not honour the DPO’s invitation, citing a lack of trust, among others.
“The case of Okereta land is pending before Lagos State High Court, Epe Division, instituted by the complainants, in 2017. For the avoidance of doubt, I, as a law-abiding citizen, did not and will not engage in any act of encroachment; rather, I legitimately and legally bought land at Okereta from two different individuals with duly executed deeds of assignment, which the complaints specifically referred to in their court summons.
“It is pathetic, disgusting and disheartening to mention that the office of the DPO and the Noforija Divisional Police Headquarters cannot be trusted by me as a result of recent happenings where the DPO invited me through phone call for mediation on the petition written by me to AIG, Zone 2, Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Lagos State, and Commissioner of Police, Lagos State, against hoodlums/land grabbers for threat and malicious damage on my land and that of my family, Adesada Oganjugbe Family.
at Otara in Igbo-Oye, and the DPO conspired with the reported hoodlums/land grabbers to falsely accuse me of involvement in bunkering activities, which occasioned my unlawful and illegal detention at Noforija and Zone 2 command.
“Further to this, my house was burgled and forcibly entered by the police from Noforija around 2am on November 20, 2023, the adjourned date for the criminal charges against the reported land grabbers, while the police officers from Noforija continuously harass, intimidate, victimize me and members of Adesada Oganjugbe family, turning the patrol van of the division to be the special security guard of the reported notorious leader of the hoodlums/land grabbers who is expected to face criminal charges pending against him in court. This situation put our mind on edge due to unlawful support for the hoodlums/land grabbers wherein the police officers and the patrol van had turned to be escort of a land grabber.”
Comrade Isiak also expressed appreciation to the leadership of the Nigeria Police Force at various formations who have frequently cautioned police officers from throwing themselves into civil matters. He also pledged to use every medium available to remind and at the same time caution officers against going beyond their limits.
“As a friend to the police, the Human Rights Monitoring Agenda wishes to remind our friends in the Nigeria Police Force that general principle of law, which has received judicial approvals in a plethora of cases, is that the police are not legally empowered to dabble in civil matters. Kure v. Commissioner of Police (2020) 9 NWLR (Pt. 1729) 296, Nkapa v. Nkume (2001) 6 NWLR (Pt. 710) 543.
“Section 4 of the Police Act, 2020, has clearly explained the primary duty of the police: this is the prevention of crime, investigation and detection of crime, and the prosecution of offenders.