One of the victims, Oluremi Orunsolu, told SaharaReporters that the incident happened on Monday at the junction of the State House of Assembly opposite Alausa Police Station, during the ongoing 10-day nationwide #EndBadGovernance protests.
Some residents of Lagos State and members of a human rights advocacy group, Take It Back (TIB) Movement, have lamented how the Commandant of the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) of the Lagos State Police Command and his officers brutalised them and seized their phones and other gadgets during the ongoing nationwide protests.
One of the victims, Oluremi Orunsolu, told SaharaReporters that the incident happened on Monday at the junction of the State House of Assembly opposite Alausa Police Station, during the ongoing 10-day nationwide #EndBadGovernance protests.
He said they were put in a Black Maria for over three hours before they were taken to Alausa Police Station, and later released.
It was learnt they were freed after the Commander of Governor's Monitoring Team, Benedict Adewale, met with them and said the Lagos State Coordinator of TIB called their superior to release them.
He noted that even after they were officially released, the RRS commandant refused to release their phones. According to him, after several back and forth, one of the five phones was released while the commandant denied being in possession of the other phones and gadgets, despite confirmation by one of his junior officers that the phones and the seized gadgets were given to him.
Orunsolu said that despite the interventions of the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of Alausa Police Station, the Lagos Police Public Relations Officer, SP Benjamin Hundeyin and the Lagos State Deputy Commissioner of Police, directing the RRS commandant to release their phones and other seized gadgets, the commandant has vehemently refused, insisting he does not have the devices.
Narrating their ordeal, Orunsolu said on Monday, which was the fifth day of the protest, they were holding a peaceful protest at Alausa when suddenly, some thugs allegedly sponsored by the government attacked them and disrupted the peaceful protest, forcing the protesters to run for their lives, while the police stood by and watched without stopping the thugs.
He said, “I was doing a live coverage with my phone before the attack was done. All the placards and some phones were collected right in front of the police at the junction of the House of Assembly opposite Alausa Police Station.
“After about 25 minutes, I came back to see two female protesters talking with the police, then I angrily told the officers that we know they were the backups to the thugs and that we would make it clear to the world.
“Immediately some RRS men grabbed me by my belt and also held one of my colleagues who I didn't know was following me when he saw that I'd come back. The RRS officers beat the both of us and punched my colleague in his face and forcefully took his phone from him.
“The GMT (Governor's Monitoring Team) officer collected my Spectranet modem and we were locked in a Black Maria for close to 3 hours.
“During our detention in the vehicle, we showed our resilience by singing solidarity songs, but the officers attempted to silence us by spraying pepper spray into the Black Maria, trying to stop our singing and break our spirits.
“Later, we were driven into the Alausa station and less than 5 minutes later, they drove us back outside after which the GMT commander, Benedict Adewale, came and released us, telling us that the Lagos State Coordinator of Take It Back spoke with someone who's their leader and asked them to release us. Then we requested for our phones and Spectranet modem which he denied having and asked us to go.
“Then I told him we can't go without the phones and modem forcefully taken from us. He then called his officer who collected my Spectranet to ask him where my modem was. His junior officer said he had handed them over to the RRS Commandant who's name I don't know.
“Then the Alausa DPO also intervened that our phones should be released. The PPRO, Benjamin Hundeyin, also tried his best and he recovered one of the phones out of 5 phones and 1 Spectranet modem.
“The RRS commandant has also been called by the Deputy Commissioner of Police to give us our properties, now the RRS is now lying that our gadgets are not with them even though the GMT officer said they were given them to the Orderly of the RRS Commandant, Mr Idris.”
SaharaReporters' attempts to reach the State Police Command for comment on the matter were unsuccessful, as the Public Relations Officer, SP Benjamin Hundeyin, did not respond to repeated calls or a text message sent to his mobile phone, leaving the Command's stance on the issue unclear as of press time.