The Lagos State Police Command has categorically denied allegations that individuals of different genders, including a minor, were held together in a single cell at the Maroko Police Station in Lekki, describing the report as entirely false.
A video posted by Oyindamola tweeting as (@dammiedammie35) on X.com showed Real Omo narrating her disturbing experience of police detention, where she was confined with numerous men and women in an overcrowded cell.
In the video, a distressed voice appealed for help, “We have men and women, even small children, all crammed into one cell. We’re begging for your intervention; we’re currently being held at Maroko Police Station
The lady stated that they were “picked up” by security operatives while they were walking in an undisclosed area in Lekki.
A group of us were arrested by security operatives last night while walking in an area of Lekki. They claimed it was a raid, but how was I supposed to know? I’m just an innocent victim. Now they’re saying I’ll be sent to prison simply for walking at night? It’s unbearable. Does this sound reasonable?”
Additionally, the video footage revealed disturbing conditions of their confinement, showcasing a damaged roof and broken walls.
In response to the tweet, the command’s spokesperson, Benjamin Hundeyin, in a tweet on Monday, debunked the woman’s story saying the persons were kept in a “holding area where they are visible to officers on duty at the charge room.”
He noted that once they are kept in a cell, they would be separated and none of them would have access to the use of phones.
Hundeying wrote, “That is a holding area, where they are visible to officers on duty at the charge room (counter). Once they move into the cell proper, they are properly separated and they would not even have their phones with them.”
However, in an accompanying video shared by the police spokesperson, five males and five females were seen facing the wall.
The officer in the video said,” This is an open cell. These are children roaming around the streets, that ran away from their houses. The residents of Lekki brought them to the station, and most of them, their parents have come to take them over They have only been kept in an open cell at the back of the charge room.”
The video showed the charge room, as the officer said the persons in question “decided” to stay along the passage leading to the male and female cells.
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