…after reporting suspected woman-beater
…I didn’t touch her, says suspect
…We’re investigating the matter -Police
Juliana Francis
A nursing mother, Mrs Mubo A. Sulaiman has narrated how her neighbour, Mr Oyewumi Adekola beat her black and blue even with a baby strapped to her back.
Angry at the manner of the attack, Mubo went to Agugu Police Station to lodge a complaint against Adekola, she was however shocked when the police granted the suspect bail and instead detained her, along with her eight months old daughter.
The detention forced the mother and child to spend the night at the police station.
The alternation between Mubo and Adekola was over the right hour to lock the compound door. While Adekola allegedly wanted to lock the door at about 7:PM, Mubo, who sells drinks, said she would prefer to lock it up later.
Both tenants refused to give an inch. Adekola was said to have gone to lock the door, but Mubo unlocked it. Angry that Mubo unlocked the door after he had locked it, Adekola was said to have pounced on Mubo, uncaring that she had an eight-month child strapped to her back.
Mubo’s husband, Ayanbimpe Sefiu said that the right thing was for Adekola to have waited for him to return, rather than resorting to beating up his wife.
Ironically, the bone contention right now was not the fact that Adekola assaulted a married woman with eight months baby strapped to her back.
Mubo and her husband Sefiu are furious over the shabby manner the police allegedly handled the matter.
Sefiu said: “I was not around when it happened. I travelled to Lagos State. Adekola started beating my wife even though she had a baby strapped to her back. People had to rush over to remove the baby from her back. How can you beat someone’s wife with a baby on her back?
“When my wife called to tell me that our neighbour beat her, I urged not to take the law into her hand, but to go to the Agugu Police Station to report the matter.
“When she got there, she met one Inspector Kehinde, who told her that Adekola was their friend and that if she wanted them to arrest him, she would have to bring money. I also spoke with this Inspector Kehinde myself.”
Sefiu said that the following day, which was Friday, he sent N5000 to his wife and asked her to return to the station. The police allegedly collected N3000 from her, while she then went to hire a tricycle with the balance, with which she took the policemen to the scene of the incident to arrest Adekola.
“She was detained from Friday till today Saturday, along with our eight months daughter. Police called me to come and bail her . I don’t understand how a complainant can become a suspect. Police said they will not release her until they see me,” fumed Sefiu.
Toward afternoon on Saturday, Mubo and her child were granted bail.
Speaking with our reporter, she said: “I went there on Thursday to lodge a complaint, but they didn’t respond. I returned there yesterday morning, but they detained me and my child. In fact, they said they will detain the man that beat me and myself, that it was a case of two fighting. At a certain point, they wanted to settle the matter, but I told the police to wait, that my husband was coming.
“They said they wouldn’t be able to detain the man until the arrival of my husband. After less than two hours, they granted bail to him and asked me to bring money for my bail, but I told them that I didn’t have money.
“I was detained. This morning, I saw our neighbour at the Police Station. The police asked me to go, and the man came to the station to tell them to release me.”
Adekola has however denied touching Mubo, let alone beating her.
He said: “I am a popular journalist. I did not beat any woman. I know Mubo, we live in the same compound. How can an elderly man like me beat a woman? It’s not possible. But I had an issue with her concerning the security of the compound. I have always told her to shut the door when it was night and this was also what I told her on that fateful night and I also called her elder sister concerning the issue.
“I didn’t touch her, people were there. She behaved blabla, and then went to the police station to get me arrested. I got to the police station, made my statement and she made hers. We went to the DCO2 Office, she was asked what she wanted, she said that she wanted nothing, and that she wanted to wait for her husband to come.
“When it was night, the police asked me to go and come back. Her husband refused to be present at the station. Last night, elders in the community came to me and her husband, to talk to us. But her husband refused to show up at the police station.
“The elders said I should go to the police station and make her bail, which was what I did. I went there before going to work to make her bail.”
The Oyo State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Osifeson Adewale, who expressed concern over the detention of a nursing mother and eight-month-old child, said that he had immediately escalated the matter to the appropriate quarters, stressing that an investigation has been launched into further probing the matter and getting the facts of the case.
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