Air force official, others, sued for allegedly torturing Abuja family

A senior Air Force officer, Air Vice Marshal Ibikunle Daramola has been accused by a gas engineer, Levi Adaga, of using NAF officers to subject him and his family to inhumane treatment.

Adaga, who rented property from the senior officer’s wife, Mrs Adenike, said she had instituted an action for the recovery of her property at the district court in Abuja.

In an affidavit in support of Motion on Notice he deposed to on March 14, 2022, the father of two said Daramola, who is now the Air Officer Commanding, Ground Training Command in Enugu, rather than wait for the court ruling, ordered his torture and that of his family.

Adenike, Daramola, one Jeremiah Atanza and the Nigerian Air Force were listed as the first, second, third and fourth respondents in the matter, respectively.

The affidavit partly read, “The first respondent instituted an action for recovery of possession of the demised premises through the third respondent as her agent at the Chief District Court, Dutse Abuja. The case between the applicant and the first respondent at the district court is still pending before His Worship, Omolola Akindele; that the first respondent is the owner of the apartment which I occupied, and the above-described property is managed by the third respondent.

“The second respondent is the husband to the first respondent, now the NAF Air Officer Commanding, Ground Training Command, Enugu, whom by his orders and command, men of the fourth respondent unleash torture, degrading and inhuman treatment on me and my family.”

The Benue-born engineer further said the men of the Air Force broke into his house and dragged him and his wife into their vehicle, adding that his two children were locked up in one of the rooms.

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He claimed that one of the Air Force officers stepped on his first daughter with his booth, leading to the dislocation on the girl’s ankle.

Adagba added, “The respondents came to my house in the early hours of Saturday, November 6, 2021, broke the entrance door to my house when I was still sleeping with my family, bundled me and my wife and locked us into one of the Air Force Hilux vehicles with registration No. AF 422A. My two children, Paradise (three years) and Piano (one and 11 months) were locked in one of the rooms in the house for more than three hours.

“The respondents removed all my properties, damaged and dumped them on the street; all my phones and that of my wife were seized from us throughout the operation in order to avoid any call or video coverage to that effect. My first daughter, Paradise, was stepped on with a boot by one of the men of the Nigerian Air Force which led to the minor dislocation of the girl’s ankle and a bloodstain in one of her eyes, which was suspected to be the swing of the cane when I was been tortured by men of the Nigerian Air Force.

“Hitherto to the unlawful outing on November 6, 2021, men of the Nigerian Air Force first visited my house in their uniforms on April 12, 2021, at about 11:56 am. They tried to evict me forcefully but I resisted since they were few in number and without arms.’’

However, Daramola’s lawyer, Folorunsho David, denied that his client ordered the torture of Adaga and his family.

David said, “The matter is presently in court. We have responded to his process. My client and he have never seen before and that property does not belong to Daramola. The man in question owes 15 months’ rent and at a point, he got violent. It was on that basis they invited the police. Would somebody who wanted to resort to self-help involve the police? He refused to go to the police. It is also a blatant lie that Daramola invited men of the Nigerian Air Force to attack him”.