An Ogun State-based lawyer, Yemisi Adebayo, has narrated how she lost her pregnancy after she was allegedly molested by policemen from the state police headquarters at Eleweran, Abeokuta.
Adebayo told PUNCH Metro in an interview on Saturday that she was picked up by three policemen on Monday, July 31, 2023, at her office in Oju Ore, the Ota area of the state, after they told her she must follow them to Onipanu Police Station, along Obasanjo Road in the state.
She said the policemen came with a man identified as Niyi, whom she had earlier followed to the police station when he (Niyi) was invited by the police over a land matter.
She noted that trouble began when she accompanied Niyi and four other persons to the police station because they were invited over a land matter they had nothing to do with. She said the five persons were released to her and that she was to be bringing them upon request by the police.
Adebayo said, “They said those five persons were occupying a piece of land at Ota. When they were invited, the said complainant did not even know them. The matter is already at the court, they only occupied the vacant place as apprentices that they are, and the resolution was that they should vacate the place with which they complied.
“But on Saturday, an officer called me saying that he wanted to see those five persons again at Onipanu Police Station, Obasanjo. I said I would inform them. I said they could also call them since they had their numbers.”
Adebayo said she had a court case at the Federal High Court, Ikoyi, Lagos, on Monday and had already informed the five persons to go and meet the police on that day.
She added, “They (the policemen) came to my office on Monday and asked me to accompany them to the police station. I entered the vehicle. I saw Niyi and asked him if he was the one that brought the policemen to my office and he said no. So I entered the car and followed them.
“While on our way, when we got to Obasanjo, I expected them to enter the station but they drove past it and locked the car and sped off.”
The lawyer said when the policemen stopped at a filling station and opened the door of the car, she attempted to escape.
“They held me and rough-handled my clothes. One of them pointed a gun at me and said they have killed many lawyers and I should learn from them. I was urinating on myself. I was screaming and telling people to record the incident – that I am a lawyer.
“When people came out, the police officers used guns to scare them away. They later released me and drove Niyi away. I don’t know where they took him to till now,” she added.
Adebayo who said she had been ill since then said she went to the hospital and discovered she had a miscarriage.
“When I went to the hospital, I didn’t even know I was pregnant before. I discovered I had lost the pregnancy,” she told PUNCH Metro.
Contacted, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Omolola Odutola, said it was important for persons invited in connection to cases under investigation to show up at the station upon such invitation.
Odutola said, “The Nigeria Police is a friendly force and that is the reason why letters like that are sent out to request the persons who are suspected to have been involved remotely, circumstantially, or even principally, to come and make an explanation to the police about the extent of their commitment in an alleged crime.
“The State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department is authorised to request persons named in a petition to come before it to answer and that it is the most responsible and respectful way. Let her cooperate.”
