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Jasper Azuatalam, the chairman of Buhari vanguard and National President of the Movement for Accountability and Good Governance (MAGG) has alleged that he was brutally attacked by Police officers in Ladipo, Lagos on September 8th.
According to him;
Gentle men of the press, on the 8th of September, 2015 at around noon, I was at Ladipo along Oshodi/Apapa Express was Lagos, a popular auto parts and mechanic station in Lagos state, to fix my cars side mirror that was damaged.It was then that one of the Policeman on a black T-Shirt ran towards me, hit me repeatedly with the butt of his gun, pushed me to the floor and began to kick me till I became unconscious. The guns were still raging and out of fear, I managed to run for a distance before I fell in the pool of my blood because my hands were heavily bleeding as a result of the hits from the gun butt.
I had already contacted the technician who would fix the mirror and sat down to make calls when over forty heavily armed Police men arrived in about three Hilux vans and began to shoot sporadically, beating everyone around blue black and bundling anyone they lay their hands on into their vans.(continue)
When they finished their operation that lasted for about fifteen minutes, they zoomed off in a commando style. I managed to get back to my car and drove behind them to find out where they came from. They got to Oloso Police station in Mushin and packed. I came down, but the same Police officer that assaulted me recognized me and ordered that I be bundled into their van with plate number and marked Number - EKY661AW (Lagos) - DOP Traffic 02, alongside tenths of other Nigerians they already had. They collected my phone and car key. They tried to drive my car, but they could not because of the security and they made efforts to disable the security by dismantling the entire interior of my car.
They did not succeed and they have to pack the my car with plate number AP 165 APP, Lagos state, at Oloso Police station Mushin and drove me alongside tenths of other Nigerians to SARS office, Ikeja Police headquarters. When we got to the headquarters, the only senior Police officer on his uniform, an Assistant Superintendent 1 of Police, Tajudeen. A. A, identified me and asked the reason they brought me. They insisted I was a criminal and gave me another set of beating.
When I introduced myself, the senior Police officers asked that I should be freed and allowed to go. They pleaded that I put the incident behind me and asked me to write a statement which I did. One of the senior officers SP Peter referred to as 2 i/C signed a bond and asked them to take it to Mushin Police state to release my vehicle. They took me to their private clinic where they treated some of my wounds.
It was at that point that they explained to me that an officer from their station went to arrest some Okada men along Mushin road and the Okade men collected his gun while he was struggling to arrest them. They claimed that was the cause for their foray. They arrested tenths of passer byes and some of them told me that they were demanding as high as one hundred thousand Naira each, to release them.
I appreciate the effort of some of the senior Police officers who identified me at the Ikeja Police headquarters and pleaded that I put the incident behind me, but in the interest of Nigerians that is paramount to me, I have decided to forward a petition to the Inspector General of Police and the National Human Right Commission. I demand Justice, not just for me, but for the myriads of Nigerians who have no one to speak for them.
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