Chizoba claimed in a video posted by his wife's lawyer, Inibehe Effiong, and seen by SaharaReporters on X (formerly Twitter), that the police disconnected his flat from the national power grid, leaving his pregnant wife and little children without electricity.
Mr Chizoba Okoli, the husband of Mrs Chioma Edoka Okoli, a female customer who was previously arrested for reviewing the tomato product of Erisco Foods Limited has narrated how his family was put under house arrest by the Nigerian police in Lagos on Tuesday.
Chizoba claimed in a video posted by his wife's lawyer, Inibehe Effiong, and seen by SaharaReporters on X (formerly Twitter), that the police disconnected his flat from the national power grid, leaving his pregnant wife and little children without electricity.
He said they also prevented them from going about their daily lives.
SaharaReporters earlier reported how policemen on the alleged orders of the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, invaded the Okolis’ house in Sangotedo in Lagos State.
SaharaReporters learnt that the team of policemen from Abuja who claimed to be acting on the orders of the police chief moved to re-arrest Okoli without providing any court order authorising them to do so.
Giving an update on the situation in the video, Chioma’s husband accused the policemen of harassment.
He also accused the police of trying to forcefully arrest his wife despite a subsisting court order stopping them from doing so.
He described the current situation of his family as hostile, adding that if anything harmful should happen to them, the police and Erisco company should be held responsible.
He said, “I just want to put this out to the public. This morning the police invaded my house where I live in Lagos and insisted on forcefully arresting my wife without any court order and against the order of the Lagos State High Court.
“There was no arrest warrant from any courts. They invaded my house this morning and kept my family under house arrest. My children were supposed to start school today. They were not able to go to school. The cooking gas finished last night and we were supposed to get another one today - this morning. But as I talk to you, we weren’t able to do that.
“They’ve cut off the light to my apartment. So my wife and children are there without lights, without cooking gas to be able to cook. My wife is pregnant and I have little children. I don’t know what is happening.
“As I talk to you, there’s a court order from Lagos State High Court against arrest and harassment from the police. And they were duly served. The court process is ongoing and we are cooperating with all of them.
“Tomorrow, we have a case in the Federal High Court - the case filed by the same police, Nigerian police. And we are prepared to be there. But this early morning, the police decided to come to my house to arrest my wife unlawfully, without any court warrant. No warrant of arrest.
“And I want to state here that if anything happens to my wife and my children, and my unborn baby, that Eric Umeofia should be held responsible and the IG of Police. What is it that my wife has done that the police would lay siege to our house to the extent of not allowing them to have light, to the extent of not allowing us to be able to go out to get things that we need in the house? To stop my children from going to school?”
“What is the crime that the court cannot solve? Why would Nigerian police take the laws into their own hands because they felt they were dealing with the underprivileged or they were dealing with someone they could crush? We are all Nigerians and I believe we should respect the law irrespective of how much money we have,” he added.
https://x.com/inibeheeffiong/