Human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) Femi Falana has faulted the police account on the controversial arrest of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) President Joe Ajaero.
Ajaero was picked up from the Imo ouncil secretariat of the NLC in Owerri on Wednesday by heavily armed police officers.
While the labour leaders accused the Imo State Police Command of arresting and brutalising Ajaero in Owerri, the police authorities said the NLC chief was placed in protective custody, citing safety concerns.
However, in a statement on Thursday, the senior lawyer said the version of the story as presented by the police is full of loopholes. He specifically asked the Inspector General of Police Kayode Egbetokun to investigate and ensure the prosecution of the police personnel who brutalised Ajaero.
“We call on the Inspector-General of Police, Dr. Kayode Egbetokun, to investigate and ensure that the police officers who brutalised the NLC President are prosecuted without any delay,” the statement read.
The human rights lawyer questioned why the police allowed the “so-called miscreants” to “brutalise” the NLC president.
“By the way, why did the police officers not arrest the miscreants who brutalised the NLC President in their presence?” the human rights lawyer asked.
“So the police who witnessed the attack without making any arrest suddenly turned round to take the victim to the police clinic.
“The members of the public who decried the barbaric attack took pictures which have exposed the misleading version of the police.
“In fact, the pictures confirm that the miscreants are actually police personnel. It is disturbing that the police justified the action of the so-called miscreants by saying that Comrade Ajaero had disobeyed the order of a court. Why did the police not allow the court to purge Comrade Ajaero of contempt of court?”
