Osun NSCDC Calls For Probe As Policemen Assault Officer

An officer of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) who was allegedly brutalized by the Operatives of the Police in Osun has been released from the police custody.

Osun Defender had earlier reported that Police officers allegedly the Civil Defence Officer at Elizabeth Estate in Osogbo.

It was gathered that the incident occurred on Wednesday morning around 9:30am when uninformed police personnel attempted to apprehend a fraudster suspect within the estate but the NSCDC officer at the entrance gate denied them access because they were not in uniform and they also came in a private car.

It was further gathered that the police officers went back to mobilize other men in uniform and also came with a Police Van to forcefully gain entrance into the Estate by assaulting the said NSCDC Officer who was reportedly taken to the State’s CID and has been detained since then.

Findings revealed that some residents of the Estate were also allegedly attacked by the Police officers in which one of the residents sustained injuries on his head.

However, speaking on the incident in a statement on Friday, the state NSCDC spokesperson, Kehinde Adeleke confirmed that the officer has been released today, Friday after he had been made to undergo more humiliating treatment allegedly by the policemen.

Adeleke said the management of the NSCDC Osun called for investigation into the matter and bring perpetrators to book.

While giving the report on the incident, Adeleke said, “A disturbing incident of barbaric police brutality occurred on Tuesday, October 22, 2024, around 8pm, at Elizabeth Estate in Osogbo, Osun State, when a group of individuals claiming to be police officers in “ANKARA ” cloth with only jacket on top, drove recklessly into the estate with a private sienna vehicle, entered the estate, which is secured by the personnel of Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Osun State Command, to purportedly arrest a suspect.

“The personnel of NSCDC on duty, as trained officers, requested for means of identification which the individuals who claimed to be policemen failed to provide. Instead they resorted to intimidations . After their failure to identify themselves they left the premises of the estate.

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“The situation escalated the following day, Wednesday, October 23, 2024, when a group of police numbering about twenty(20) drove into the estate and descended on one NSCDC personnel, physically assaulting him and inflicting grevious bodily harm on him. The video of the incident is attached to the statement.

 

“The officer’s uniform was torn, he was brutalized beyond description, disarmed, handcuffed like a common criminal, and forcefully taken to Ataoja Division before being moved to the Police State Headquarters.

“Efforts to resolve the issue amicably were made by the Commandant of NSCDC, Osun State command, Dr. Michael Adaralewa, who raised a team of senior officers, who visited the Police Headquarters. However, the police refused to release the detained NSCDC personnel. They concocted unfounded lies of deflation of their vehicle tyres. When the team asked if the same vehicle was still at the scene, they said no, then the questions we asked if any vulcanizer fix the tyres. “No” was the answer. The team also demanded if the vehicle was towed. The answer was also negative. The big question then is how did the vehicle that conveyed the policemen leave the incident scene?

“Unfortunately, despite assurances by the police team that immediately NSCDC confirmed the identity of the officer in their custody, he would be released, a confirmation letter was taken to police state headquarters, yet they never released him since Wednesday 23rd October, 2024. He was just released this afternoon, today Friday, 25th, after he had been made to undergo more humiliating treatment in the hands of policemen on duty.

“The Osun NSCDC boss, Michael Adaralewa, therefore, calls for thorough investigation into the matter and bring perpetrators to book. “We demand there should be no sacred cow in the matter, and we are not going to allow the matter to be swept under the rug”

Meanwhile, when speaking with Osun Defender on Friday, the Osun State Police spokesperson, Yemisi Opalola had said the Police will release a report soon on the incident.

She said, “Yes. We are working on it. We will soon release a statement.”