The IGP gave the order
in a letter signed on his behalf by his Principal Staff Officer, DCP Idowu
Owohunwa and addressed to the Deputy Inspector-General of Police, Force
Criminal Investigation Department, Garki.
The IGP's letter was
sequel to a petition written by Seyitan’s lawyer, Ojoge, Omileye and Partners.
In the IGP's letter
titled "Re: Petition Against
Inspector Abraham, Supol Ugowe and the Entire Police Officers Team at Ikeja,
Lagos Division of the Inspector General of Police", the IGP asked that the
petition from Seyitan Babatayo's lawyer be addressed.
The petition from
Babatayo's legal representative - Ojoge, Omileye and Partners - allege that policemen attached to the
Intelligence Response Team arrested Seyitan on the directive of D’Banj and
detained her for over 24 hours.
It was also alleged
that they denied her access to her phone and her lawyers and she was subjected
to intimidation and psychological torture by the policemen.
The petition read in
part, “On Tuesday, June 16, 2020, our client was picked up alongside a friend,
Favour, at her residence in Lagos by the officers of the Ikeja IGP IRT. The
arrest was without any warrant and neither our client nor her friend, Favour,
was informed of the reasons for their arrest.
“According to our
client, she was told to write a statement denying ever meeting with Mr.
Oyebanjo (D’Banj) and to also state that she lied against the person of Mr.
Oyebanjo. In actual fact, our client was about to write the statement which she
believed would be a basis for her release when the counsel came in and stopped
her from writing such a statement.
"The counsel
further informed the policemen that all actions to the alleged rape of our
client in December 2018 by Mr. Oyebanjo have been transferred to the DIG FCID
for a thorough investigation and that they need to stay the action.”
The petition adds that
the counsel told the policemen to release his client and he would bring her
back to the station when she's needed but the policemen said Seyitan had not
yet spent 24 hours in custody.
The counsel returned
the following day and alleged that D’Banj’s Manager, Damien Okoroafor, was
present at the police office.
He said that the
process of bailing Seyitan had started before D'banj's manager, Okoroafor’s
began ordering officers around. Because of this, the officers refused to
release Seyitan and threatened to approach a magistrate court to obtain a
remand order to detain Seyitan for two weeks.
He said Seyitan was
forced to delete all social media posts she had made about D’Banj and was also
forced to make a public statement absolving D’Banj of rape which she did to
gain her freedom.
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