Officers from the Makinde Police station, Oshodi , Lagos have illegally detained two principal officers of the DOORT Community Development Association (CDA) in Oshodi/Isolo local government.
The two officers, Maruf Yusuf and Saheed Oladeinde, who are the Chairman and Secretary of the CDA, had gone to the Makinde Police station to assist the police in their investigation on the fire incident that happened at No 13 Olowokere Street on Monday, August 19.
A 60 year-old man lost his life in the inferno, which began around 2am from one of the rooms in the building.
It took the intervention of fire fighters from the Lagos State Fire Services and community members before the fire was put off.
The corpse was then moved to the Infectious Disease Hospital (IDH), Yaba by the Lagos State Environmental Health Monitoring Unit (SEHMU).
Our correspondent gathered that the owners of the building had gone to Makinde Police Station on the day of the incident to report the case. However, in their statements they lied that there was no loss of life.
The matter took a new dimension when family members of the deceased reported at the station to report of a missing person in the burnt building.
It was gathered the IPO in charge of the matter, Inspector Peter, later allowed the property owners to change their statements after allegedly collecting money from them.
But when family members of the deceased insisted on seeing the corpse, the owners of the property and some tenants were detained.
To assist the police with their investigation, Yusuf and Oladeinde on their own went to the station to debunk the lie that no live was lost and provide information on where the corpse was taking to.
After taking their statements, the IPO with the support of his wife, who is also a police officer, further quizzed the CDA officers on the matter.
The CDA officers were then detained several hours at the station before they were moved to the Lagos State Criminal Intelligence Investigation Department (SCIID) Panti.
Narrating their ordeals, Oladeinde said they had gone to the station to shed more light on the fire incident and assist the police in their investigation.
He described their arrest as illegal and uncalled for, adding that the system always tried to deter patriotic citizens from assisting the police when the need arises.
He said”, I and the Chairman had gone to Makinde Police Station in respect of the fire incident at 13 Olowokere Street. We went on our own in order to assist the police in their investigation.
“After taking our statements, the IPO in charge of the matter, Inspector Peter detained us without explaining his reasons .We were later transferred to Panti.
“While in the bus, they rough handled us and took our phones.
“The ride to Panti left me perplexed as to why we were being detained for trying to assist the police.
“ When we met the head of the department in Panti, DCP Ahmed Lateef, he listened to our case and instructed the police to follow the lead we have provided in identifying the whereabouts of the corpse by going to IDH in Yaba.
“He transferred to the case to SP Bunu for further investigation.
“SP Bunu in company of the family members, Inspector Peter and one other senior officer visited IDH and were shown the charred body of the deceased.
“Despite our innocence, the officers refused to grant us bail. We were kept in the cell and spent the night there.
“We were later released on Friday afternoon on the orders of DCP Lateef as no case was established against us.
“Those two days were some of the worst days of my life, Oladeinde said.
“We demand that Inspector Peter of Makinde Police station should be investigated in this matter.”
Efforts to speak with Inspector Peter on the matter was not successful . He did not pick his calls when our correspondent tried to contact him.
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