The traders who grounded economic activities in the area carried placards with different inscriptions, asking for the release of Babatunde who they said was illegally detained.
Traders in the popular Fayose market in Ado Ekiti, Ekiti State capital on Thursday protested against the arrest of the president of the market, Babatunde Owa by the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) unit of the state police command.
The traders who grounded economic activities in the area carried placards with different inscriptions, asking for the release of Babatunde who they said was illegally detained.
They also called for the sacking of the commander of the RRS team, CSP Marcus Ogundola.
“Ogundola must go, he arrested our market president yesterday for no crime committed. No reason was given by him, he just asked his boys to arrest him,” a trader told SaharaReporters.
“This is a police officer that is well known for unlawful killings, arrests, conversion of suspects’ properties to personal use, and demand of outrageous bail sums in exchange for people’s freedom.”
SaharaReporters gathered that Ogundola was the commander of the notorious unit of the Nigeria Police Force, the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) before it was disbanded in 2020 after #EndSARS protests.
SARS was notorious for brutality, extrajudicial killings, and human rights abuses.
Former Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, on October 11, 2020, announced the disbandment of the police unit following nationwide protests over the police unit's atrocities