Two lawyers in Ogun state, have accused officers from the Ogun state command of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) of assault following a disagreement at a bar inIjebu Ode, one of the major towns in the state.
The lawyers, Adekoya Adebayo and Sola Ajisebutu, alleged that the policemen attacked them, acting on the instructions of an assistant commissioner of police and area commander, ACP Funsho Ajao.
Adebayo claimed he had gone to the bar with Ajisebutu for a meeting when the bar owner offered to introduce him to the area commander but the exchange of pleasantries was aborted when he remembered that the police official was at the centre of a dispute involving his (Adebayo) employers, Kayode Oshiyemi & Co in Ijebu Ode.
The lawyer added that as he stepped out of the bar, a number of policemen accosted him and accused him of disrespecting Ajao by refusing to prostrate while greeting the area commander.
“I was about to enter my car when one of the policemen, who was in mufti, asked whyI was standing straight to address the area commander and that I should have prostrated. I told him the area commander was not up to a magistrate or a high court judge that we stand to address daily.
“He slapped me. The other policemen, who were in uniform, beat me and used the buttsof their guns to hit me.
My fiancée was also assaulted,” he said.
Adebayo added that his friend, Ajisebutu who relied on crutches for mobility was alsopushed to the ground when he tried to intervene.
Spokesman for theOgun state police command, Abimbola Oyeyemi spoke in defence of the area commander and argued that Ajao could have become a senior advocate of Nigeria (SAN) if he was a lawyer and therefore deserved some respect.
Abimbola further condemned the allegedly disrespectful attitude of some lawyers to police officers, saying the Ogun state policecommand would not be intimidated.
Punchreports that the owner of the bar, identified only as Alhaji, similarly took sideswith the police, accusing the lawyer of being drunk on the day of the incident and bringing his fate upon himself.
Adebayo’s principal, Mr Kayode Oshiyemi, inhis employee’s defence, said Ajao had repeatedly abused his office and it was the failure of the police authorities to investigate him that emboldened him. Oshiyemi added that he had submitted a fresh petition to the office of the assistant inspector-general of police, zone 2 and was awaiting action.
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