A group of lawyers, known as Bola Ahmed Tinubu Lawyers, are urging the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, to probe the alleged assault on one of their members, Mr Ernest Okpaga, by officers at the National Cyber Crime Centre in Abuja.
The group alleged that Okpaga was assaulted by the officers when he accompanied his client, Ms. Thomas Abiodun, to the centre.
The group made the call on Tuesday during a press conference held at the Lagos State High Court in Ikeja.
The incident occurred on December 19, 2024, after Abiodun collapsed and Okpaga suggested taking her to the police clinic for treatment.
Instead of following his advice, the officers allegedly verbally assaulted Okpaga, beat him up and dragged him to a room.
The group claims that Okpaga was subjected to inhuman treatment and would have been beaten to death if not for the intervention of other officers.
The BAT Lawyers condemned the actions of the police officers, stating that their conduct was unlawful, unprofessional, and unacceptable in a democratic society.
They dispatched a petition to the Inspector-General of Police, requesting a thorough investigation into the matter and disciplinary action against those involved.
While condemning the action of the policemen, they stated that they had reviewed the facts of Okpaga’s ordeal and were strongly persuaded that the conduct of the officers and men involved in the alleged harassment and assault was unlawful and unprofessional and therefore totally unacceptable in a democratic society such as ours.
Speaking to journalists, the group’s National Convener, Mrs. Abibat Bankole-Apena, stated they received a report from one of their members, Mr. Ernest Okpaga, an Abuja-based legal practitioner that on December 19, 2024, he was assaulted by some officers of the Nigeria Police Force National Cyber Crime Centre when he went to the office with his client (Ms Thomas Abiodun), on invitation.
She said the head of the team at the NPF-NCCC was CSP Omaka, while the Investigating Police Officer was one Supol Raliant.
Bankole-Apena added that Okpaga informed them that after the said Ms. Thomas Abiodun had finished making her statement, before he could get to the exit gate of the centre, to his surprise, he was called back and informed that Abiodun (whom he left behind) had collapsed.
She said Okpaga narrated that when he returned to the office, he told the IPO that the woman should be taken to the police clinic immediately for treatment.
“He said that to his dismay and embarrassment, he was immediately subjected to verbal assault and then someone whom he identified as an Assistant Director of Administration at the NPF-NCCC ordered his officers and men to lock him up in the same room with Ms. Thomas Abiodun until the woman regained consciousness, instead of taking her to the police clinic as suggested by him.
“Our member told us that without hesitation, some policemen pounced on him and dragged him to a room saying that, having not done anything to warrant being arrested or detained, he resisted being locked up while insisting that it was important to first save the life of Ms Abiodun by taking her to the nearest health facility which was the Police Clinic.
“According to Okpaga, these officers and men of the Nigeria Police Force ignored his advice but rather began to beat him up and dragged him on the floor like a common criminal just because he resisted being locked up,” she said.
She stated that the lawyer narrated that but for the intervention of some other officers who were watching as he was being subjected to inhuman treatment, he would have been beaten to death.
“He informed us that it was upon this intervention that they ceased beating him and then took him and Abiodun to the police clinic where they were both treated.
“We, BAT Lawyers, have reviewed the facts of Mr Okpaga’s ordeal and we are strongly persuaded that the conduct of the officers and men involved in the harassment and assault on Mr Okpaga is unlawful and unprofessional and therefore totally unacceptable in a democratic society such as ours.
“If a legal practitioner could be subjected to the kind of treatment as described by our member in the course of rendering professional services, in violation of the sacred provisions of our Constitution and international human rights instruments, we wonder the treatment that officers and men of NPF-NCCC would have been giving to ordinary Nigerian citizens.”
