Olaleye Aluko

A 22-year-old student, Opeyemi Balogun, has been in detention at the Elere Police Division since Saturday, November 28, for alleged involvement in the theft of fuel from the Ikorodu area of Lagos State.

PUNCH Metro learnt that Opeyemi, a student of a government technical college, and three others were arrested at a hotel in Ikorodu by the Inspector-General of Police Anti-Pipeline Vandalism team, and thereafter taken to the Elere division.
The three other suspects are identified only as John, Adeniran and a lady, whose name had yet to be given.

Our correspondent gathered that Opeyemi, who hails from Ijebu Ode, Ogun State, had returned from school on the fateful Friday, and gone to stay with his mother in Ikorodu.

On the following day, the 22-year-old was said to have gone out with friends to a hotel on Pillar Street, Church bus stop, Okeriya, Ikorodu. It was learnt that while they were in the hotel, the police came into the premises, and arrested them as suspected vandals.
Opeyemi’s elder sister, Febisola, said the police were demanding N300,000 from the family to secure Opeyemi’s release, adding that the family had yet to see him since that Saturday.

She said, “It is over two weeks now that they have detained him. The police asked us to bring N300,000 before they can release him. We were still there last week, and it was the same demand.

“Initially, we did not know where he was detained. He was returning home when the police arrested him. People who saw him told us that he had been arrested. We went round all the police divisions in Ikorodu to no avail.

“Later, some people said they saw his name on the suspects’ board at the Elere Police Division. We went to the division and also saw his name. But the police have not allowed us to see him as we speak. They said we should bring N300,000.”

A lawyer for the Baloguns, Quadri Oladapo, said John and Adeniran had allegedly both paid N300,000 to the police before they were released, while Opeyemi was being detained because the family could not meet the policemen’s demand.

Oladapo added that neither he nor Opeyemi’s family members had been able to see the student since his arrest.

He said, “The allegation was that the young men had gone to vandalise pipeline and steal fuel. They were arrested by the police’s Anti-Pipeline Vandalism team. So far, I have made efforts to confirm whether there was a complainant, and I realised there was none. But the police have been holding Opeyemi since November 28.

“They did not take them to the command headquarters. They said the team of policemen which arrested them was from Abuja. I went to the Elere Divisional Police Officer and he said he had not been briefed on the matter.

“To make matters worse, I, as the legal counsel, have not been able to see Opeyemi since November 28. The suspects are not related. They are just friends in the neighbourhood. The two others paid about N300,000 before they were released.”
The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Joe Offor, confirmed that Opeyemi was in police custody at Elere, but denied that the police demanded N300,000 for his bail.

He said, “The arrest was made by the IG’s monitoring team. The suspect is only being detained at Elere. The suspects were arrested in connection with a very serious robbery case. It is not a case of fuel theft. It is not true that N300,000 is being demanded for bail.”

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