22-year-old student reveals how policemen brutalised him and his my mum

Abdulrasheed Ashaye, a student at the Airforce Institute of Technology, Kaduna, and his mother are yet to recover from injuries they sustained from torture by some men of the Nigeria Police Force, TopNaija reports.

The 22-year-old student said he and his mother were returning from her shop on June 9, 2020 when they were accosted by some policemen at a bus stop near Ikorodu High School, Lagos. Ashaye explained that they alighted from a commercial bus when the policemen stopped them and ordered him into a waiting van without telling him his offence.

He said, “We live at Apeka Estate around Ikorodu High School. Immediately my mum and I alighted from the bus, the policemen came and randomly arrested six youths, including me. They handpicked me and ordered me into their vehicle. They asked me why I didn’t run away when I saw them and I told them that I did no wrong and that I am a student at Airforce Institute of Technology, Kaduna.”

Ashaye said when he showed the policemen his identity card, they attempted to destroy it but he quickly protected it – an act that angered the cops.

He said that was the beginning of her ordeal as he was beaten together with his mum, who intervened. He added, “One of them with the name Ogedegbe removed my newly bought Infinix phone and broke it. I used the phone for online classes and tests. Now I have lost communication with my lecturers and classmates. My dad just bought the phone for me. He even borrowed money to buy the phone.

“The cop used the butt of his gun to hit my head and while I was bleeding, they threw me inside their van and were about to move when my mum ran after them and asked which police station they were taking me to. Before we knew what was happening, the policeman slapped my mum and pushed her to the ground. While she was on the ground, another officer hit her in her stomach. My mum started to bleed from her vagina. He didn’t stop at that; he hit her with his gun.

“By the time I got to the station, I noticed that they were both drunk. I heard my mum scream while I was being taken to the cell.’’

He added that the policemen took them to the Sagamu Road Police Station where they passed the night, adding that her mum was hospitalised and placed on medication after they were released. Ashaye stated that his father and some elderly people in their estate came to secure his bail, adding that the Divisional Police Officer apologised and promised to give him N25,000 to treat himself.

The Police Public Relations Officer, Bala Elkana, said the policemen were raiding Ikorodu for cultists that day, noting that investigation had commenced on the case.

He said, “On the night he was arrested, the police officers were on operations in that area. It was during one of those operations that he was arrested by some officers. If he is a student of any security institution, that is the more reason he should submit himself for proper investigation.

“They also fought his mother because she was said to have obstructed them from arresting him. When the DPO saw that he is a student at a security institution, he looked at his involvement in that matter and how to help him out. Investigation is still ongoing. If he feels his right has been abused during that arrest, let him approach us with facts then we will investigate.”