Odulate did a live video recording of the incident on his Facebook wall, an act that infuriated the vigilantes, who held him and dragged him to the police station.
Oluwatobi Odulate, a resident of Ogun State, has recounted his ordeal after being arrested and charged to court for refusing to give bribe to some vigilante cadet at an illegal roadblock in the state.
SaharaReporters had reported how Odulate, who was on a motorcycle as a passenger, was arrested after the rider of the motorcycle was detained by the vigilante cadets for refusing to pay N500 as a bribe.
Odulate did a live video recording of the incident on his Facebook wall, an act that infuriated the vigilantes, who held him and dragged him to the police station.
He was detained at the Igbobi Police Station before he was arraigned at the Sagamu Magistrate Court.
Speaking with SaharaReporters after he was granted bail, Odulate said the vigilante group wanted the police to detain him perpetually for recording them.
He also said that he was denied the right to call his family and lawyer until the day of his second appearance in the court.
He said, “I went to collect all my properties, my phone and the bike we were riding. On getting there, they just threw us inside the cell and took us to court very early on Monday.
“I was remanded on Thursday evening and from then to 7am on Monday when we were taken to court, they denied me access to make any phone call.
“I was arraigned at Sagamu Magistrate Court and they did not allow anybody to enter the courtroom. It was shrouded in complete secrecy.
“On Friday, when we first appeared in court, they came with their lawyer and witness while I didn’t have anybody to speak for me.
“They did not allow me to make calls. The police said it was an overnight case so they took us to court with no option of calling anybody.
“The charges are that we assaulted them, which was a lie. They also charged me for recording video and posting the video online to breach the peace."
He revealed that he was pestered to do another video on his Facebook wall denouncing the initial video, which he declined.
He added, “Because it happened in my local government, and for the swift intervention of my family, they were able to secure my bail and the two other persons arrested with me would have been in jail by now.”
Odulate was granted bail by the magistrate and asked to provide a surety with each.
The surety must submit to the court Ogun State tax clearance, receipt of any property worth N50,000 and national ID card or voters card.