Village Heads petition Inspector General of Police accusing police inspector of terrorizing residents on land matters

About 22 Community heads (Baales) in Ona Ara local government area of Oyo State have petitioned the Inspector General of Police Usman Baba Alkali acussing a top police officer of terrorizing them over land matters.

Penpushing reports that the petition also fingered a notable chief in what they described as ongoing unlawful persecution of residents of Akintola village in Ona Ara and diversionary invitation of Chiefs in a matter they knew nothing about.

The petitioners emphasized that the illegal activities of the said officer, who was saddled with gender matters but said to be regrettably dabbling into land matters, which is contravention to his duty, call and the position of the Inspector General and the Chairman of the Police Service Commission, Solomon Arase.

Penpushing further reports that the Council of Baales under the leadership of Baale Yekini Obisesan, passionately appealed to the Inspector General of Police to investigate and bring to justice, the alleged police officer

‘Both IGP and Arase had variously being quoted on the need for the police officers to refrain from dabbling in land matters in order to avoid ridiculing the force and exposing the police authority to unnecessary litigation that may arise therefrom’, the petitioners said

Penpushing also reports that the council alleged that the senior police officer had sometime declared that one of the issues that he was to tackle was the incidence of people into land matters, arguing that the police have no constitutional power to allocate land to anybody

‘One of the issues that I have had to tackle is the incidence of people dabbling into land matters. The police do not have the constitutional power to allocate land to anybody; they cannot do that. The only people that have the right to do that is the civil court’, the officer was quoted saying.‎

‘So, you people must be able to draw the thin line between what is criminal, what is civil and what is commercial because whenever you dabble into civil and commercial issues, you attract civil litigation to the Nigeria Police Force. And when you do that, you have to take garnishee orders”, he was also quoted saying

Penpushing reports that the Baales said that the officer, working in the Gender Unit in the office of the Deputy Inspector General of Police, Area 10, Abuja was being used to harass, intimidate and threaten people as a decoy by people of questionable character to victimize and threaten influential and innocent people in the society.

The petitioner alleged that this officer simply identified as ASP also had the effrontery to invite Chief Dotun Sanusi, a Senior Chief in the city who knew nothing about the disputed land to appear in Abuja for alleged threat to life of yet to be identified persons, masquerading as land grabbers on an expanse of land in Akintola village, Akanran in Ona Ara Local Government area.

‘Sanusi, an Ibadan-based billionaire businessman and a philanthropist, who was seeing as highly influential to stop him (ASP) from further arrests and harassment cum invitation of Baales to Abuja for a matter that was long adjudicated upon with justice entered by an Oyo State High Court Judge, Justice A. G. Sunmonu, was also invited by the said officer’, the petitioners wrote.

Penpushing further reports that, the copies of the petition, dated Wednesday April 19, 2023, were also sent to the Assistant Inspector-General (AIG) in charge of Zone XI, Osogbo, comprising Oyo and Osun State, Commissioner of Police in the state as well as the Director of Department of State Services (DSS), and the Chairman of Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Oyo State Council.

The Baales  in the petition entitled ‘Threat to Life, Unlawful arrest, intimidation and illegal acquisition of 95 acres of land at Akintola village, Akanran, Ona-Ara Local Government of Oyo State’, alleged that a suspected land grabber, trading under Paragon Estate, wanted to grab 250 acres of land in Akanran, with the aid of  the fingered Assistant Inspector of Police.

Penpushing also reports that they equally alleged that the atrocities of said policeman  was alongside one High Chief in  Ibeju Lekki,  on a long settled disputed land which an Oyo State High Court had entered judgment into, is already before the Oyo State Government Task Force on Land Matters.

‘For even contravening the IGP who was reported to have warned officers on land matters, we (undersigned Baales) demand panel of enquiry to investigate the interest of ASP and other officers in this matter’.

‘That this same ASP unlawfully arrested and detained a resident of the area at a police facility in Orita Challenge Ibadan before the innocent man was forcibly whisked to Abuja the following day and made to write statement under duress. This calls for further investigation and punishment must be served accordingly’, the petitioners emphasised.

‘Using threats on people including traditional rulers to appear before him or vacate their land when he is not a judge or court of law, also calls to question the integrity of the said officer and we therefore, demand from both the IGP and the PSC Chairman, Solomon Arase to wade in, immediately and ensure thorough investigation of this officer’.

‘Since experience has shown that these so-called property developers have been using the police officers to coerce innocent people and lawful land owners to vacate their lands or forfeits same after series of human right abuses, intimidation, harassment including threats to lives, the IGP and the PSC must not allow this matter to be swept under the carpet because an injury to one is an injury to all’.

“For the umpteenth time, we are using this medium to officially complain against this unlawful police action in a purely civil matter. Anybody who feels he is the rightful owner of a land needs not resort to self-help by using the police to threaten people but should rather heads to the court to proof his case’.

‘This officer, ASP and his type destroying the image of the Force and going against the instructions of the IGP should be punished to serve as a deterrent to other officers. The officer boasting that he was above the law and could not be called to question on this civil matter and not gender affair with which he was saddled with, should be probed thoroughly and investigated for justice to be served,’ the Baales added.

‘The Council of Baales thereafter issued a petition to the Governor of Oyo State; the IGP, the PSC Chairman, Chief Judge of Oyo State; the Commissioner of Police; the Director of DSS; the  Chairman, NUJ Oyo State, among others to warn of dire consequences of further harassment of residents on the disputed land or the chiefs in the area’.

“After a crucial meeting held on Wednesday, we write to inform your office about threat to life, unlawful arrest, intimidation, harassment and illegal acquisition of 95 acres of land at Akintola Village, Akanran’.

Penpushing reports that the petitioners explained that the disputed land has been resolved by the Oyo State High Court, sitting in Ibadan, in a suit with number: I/443/2014, adding that Justice G.A. Sunmonu had on March 19, 2020 delivered a judgment in favour of Alhaji Rasheed Eniayenfe Ojo, and Good Foundation Social Club, who were the defendants in the case.

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