Former Speaker, Lagos State House of Assembly, Rt. Honourable Jokotola Waheed Pelumi was recently discharged and acquitted in a case against him in which the Nigeria Police claimed he harboured alleged cultists who were accused of killing a policeman on duty at Agbowa- Ikosi, Lagos State on October 30, 2019.
In this interview with FirstNigeriaTV’s ‘Segun ‘Bambo Ojomo, the former Lagos State number one lawmaker explains what led to his arrest and prosecution, his travails in the hands of the Nigeria Police and the judgement process and conclusion.
Excerpts:
*Could you briefly explain what led to your arrest on 30th October, 2019?
Thank you. On the fateful day, I was in my home at Agbowa when suddenly I was alerted by the forced entry of policemen from the Lagos State Special Anti-Robbery Squad into my compound. Armed with live ammunitions, cutlasses and cudgels, the irate policemen pounced on my home, after scaling the surrounding fence, to embark first on wanton destruction of property in their sight. When I appeared to them from within, they seized me and when I asked what was amiss, one of them immediately hit me on the head with the butt of his gun and I was immediately drenched in blood, half naked.
*Did you give them your identity when they came in contact with you, i mean, before inflicting bodily harm on you?
Of course, I did. I told them I was Speaker of the Lagos House of Assembly and one of them responded “Speaker, my foot,….. harbouring criminals…”.I was then arrested along with my two cousins- Kazeem Quadri and Adekunle Dabiri and some others on the claim that they were responsible for the death of a policeman named DSP Akindele Akingboju and that I harboured them. I was thereafter charged for aiding the escape of some suspects in the crime while the six other persons were arraigned for the murder of the police officer.
*How were you linked with the murder of the police officer?
On the fateful day, I was home at Agbowa for the weekend and as usual anytime I was home, my two cousins and their families came visiting. There was a party in my neighborhood that I was even supposed to attend and to which my cousins had gone before me. Suddenly I started hearing noise from the place and people running helter – skelter and my cousins also returned home, and of course in the usual way of police looking for who to arrest, traced the boys to my home, drawing on them a false allegation of being cultists who took part in killing the policeman. My own link was that I harboured cultists who performed the dastardly act. We were thereafter all arraigned before an Ebute – Metta Magistrate’s Court over the alleged murder of the police officer. The police in their charge accused me of receiving into my home, a prime suspect -Adekunle Dabiri, who was alleged to have taken part in the murdered of DSP Akindele who hitherto was of the Anti-Cultism unit of the Lagos State Police Command.
*What was the order of prosecution after your arraignment?
I pleaded not guilty to the charge and was granted bail by Chief Magistrate A.O. Adedayo in the sum of N1million with two sureties. The magistrate also directed that one of my sureties must be a member of the State House of Assembly and also that the other accused persons be remanded at the Ikoyi Prisons, pending legal advice from the Office of the State Director of Public Prosecutions and adjourned the case until November 26, 2018 for mention.
I was thereafter granted bail on self recognition and I also use this unique opportunity to immensely thank the Lagos State House of Assembly for standing by me all through the ordeal.
*Was there any other loss you suffered by the incursion of the police officers into your privacy, apart from manhandling?
Yes, they vandalised property worth millions of naira and made away with $10,000 and additional N38, 000 apart from valuable jewels also running into several millions of naira.
*Now let’s get to the major need for this interview. What was the court’s final judgement on the matter?
The court having found no evidence that I harboured cultists and my cousins as well as the other accused persons in the murder of the police officer were the ones that actually committed the crime, discharged and acquitted us of the crime. For record purposes, I have the details of a delivery on the matter signed by the Director of Public Prosecutions, Dr. Jide Martins, on behalf of the Honourable Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Lagos State which reads thus in part:
“I am directed to refer to your letter with Ref. No CB/3514/LSX/DX/VOL 1/1137 dated 17th January, 2019 and the accompanying duplicate case file, this office is of a considered opinion that there are insufficient facts to establish any offence whatsoever against neither of the suspects viz………”.
Fortunately, another notable point in the delivery of the D.P.P reads thus:
“Further facts in the case file revealed that Page B15- Chinedu Okorie alleged that he could identify some of the hoodlums that attacked the victim DSP Akingboju but same was not investigated by the Police”.
I’m sure the above would have released more complicity into the matter if I decided to press further on it.
*With all the afore explained and the delivery of the court of law in your favour, did the Nigeria Police tender apologies to you for infringement of your peace and well-being?
The Nigeria Police has, up till the moment, not deemed it imperative to tender any apologies to me or any of the accused persons in the matter. I would have taken up the matter further as I earlier promised to but for the prevalence on me by my constituents, friends and family members that I totally forgot about the unfortunate matter.
