A music publicist has shared a harrowing experience he had with some police officers on his way to meet a friend in Lagos.
Ajayi Boluwatife recounted his ordeal with members of the Federal Special Weapon and Tactics (FSWAT) via his Twitter handle on Friday.
He told PREMIUM TIMES that he was arrested in Ikoyi and taken to a police division in Adeniji Adenle, Lagos Island.
They made me “fill out a statement form and paid 150k.”
Recounting his experience in a Twitter thread, he said that he was arrested by the police officers on Thursday, around Ikoyi-Link bridge road.
“Some men men dressed in all black with FSWAT written all over, stopped my car,” he said.
“I was calm, next thing they told me to come down & as I was about to open my bag to show them I have no contrabands, they cuffed me, pushing me towards their Korope (mini bus) across the road, I kept on begging that they have me mistaken for someone, all they kept on saying was “you’re a criminal, you’re a robber.
“They cuffed me to another guy they caught with Indian hemp & I kept on begging that I had nothing on me, they were 3, one told me to keep quiet if not he’ll slap me & he was smiling.”
Mr Boluwatife said that they were driven to Adeniji Central Police Station in Lagos Island in handcuffs.
“They took me & the other guy to the back of the station & Uncuffed us, telling us to drop our bags & bring our phones,” he said.
“They started asking where do I work & I tried answering, they didn’t even let me explain anything, these illiterates kept on saying I’m lying & that I should call Olamide or Wizkid on my phone if truly I work in the music (industry), if not I’m lying.”
He further said that when his phone was searched, they saw conversations with some clients and his Cash App and concluded that he was a fraudster.
He added that he pleaded to call his parent but they refused “to give me my phone, calling me a robber & telling me I’ll sleep in the cell.”
He said some minutes later, the officers instructed him to write in his statement that “I made 5000 dollars from yahoo.”
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According to him, he was also asked to write the date he ventured into fraud.
“These people refused to let me call my dad or my friends, I was AWOL for 2 hours & I had to do their bidding before I was released, I don’t pray for my enemy to go through this.”
Police react
Reacting to Mr Boluwatife’s experience, Benjamin Hundeyin, the spokesperson of the police in Lagos State, said via his Twitter handle said that FSWAT is overseen at the federal level.
“It is now imperative to clarify that FSWAT, domiciled in Adeniji Police Station, is not under the Lagos State Police Command but under the FCID, Abuja,” he wrote.
He also put out the contact of Funmilayo Eguaoje, the spokesperson of the FCID.
“I’m on it,” Ms Eguaoje told this newspaper on Saturday. She added that she has spoken with Mr Boluwatife and told him to meet with the Deputy Commissioner of police and identify the officers.
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