The Only Offence I Committed Was Being Poor – Woman Narrates How Her Neighbor Destroyed Her House With The Help Of Police Officers In Lagos

Sometime in 2018, a small space in a large expanse of land was rented to me for a fee to erect a wooden apartment for residential purposes around the Lekki Peninsula Scheme 2, Ajah, and while I was constructing the said wooden apartment, Supol Johnbull, in company of some other officers from the Nigeria Police Force in the Lekki Peninsula Scheme 2 Police Post disrupted the construction on the ground that I must settle them before I can build the said apartment. Thus, I obliged them and the construction work was completed afterwards.

I was enjoying peace and quietness until one Mr. Ime Okon who has a house in the neighbourhood accused me of connecting electricity from his electric pole without his consent and thereafter, sent one of his thugs to disconnect the light and seize the cable. I approached Mr. Ime Okon and explained to him that I did not connect electricity supply from his electric pole. Rather, the connection was made from the electric pole close to my house and same was done by staff of PHCN (EKEDC) and that I have been paying my electricity bills from inception. However, Mr. Ime Okon insisted that he was not releasing the electric cable to me and shouted at me to leave his compound.

Sometime in April, 2020, at about 11:00pm, while I was getting ready to retire to bed, I heard a loud sound, which was birthed by the knock on my door. On opening the door, I saw some Police officers who introduced themselves as Officers from the Ogombo Police Divisional Headquarters and that they want me to bring out the kidnappers I hired to kidnap my neighbour called Mr. Goodnews Sunday and a driver to Mr. Ime Okon. I, in a of state of utter confusion and shock informed the Police Officers that I did not understand what they were demanding from me as I have never seen a kidnapper, needless to say knowing one. And that the only persons I saw around my compound that night were one Mr. Again-Again (a man who lives in the neighbourhood) and Mr. Tony Sunday (the elder brother of Mr. Goodnews Sunday) and that when I enquired from them the reason they came to my place, they informed hme that Mr. Goodnews had bought some drinks from someone and asked Mr. Again-Again to stand as a surety for him. But that he failed to pay for the drinks as agreed and has been on the run. Hence, Mr. Tony Sunday had to bring Mr. Again-Again to his younger brother’s house, since the seller has been troubling him for his money. Thus, it was after explaining to them what at transpired in at my place the a few hours before that the Officers informed me that it was Mr. Ime Okon who called and informed them that I brought Kidnappers to come and Kidnap Mr. Goodnews Sunday, his driver and that he saw it in his CCTV camera. However, when the Police demanded that Mr. Ime Okon produced the CCTV footage, he could not and has failed to do so even until this day.

On Tuesday the 21st day of April, 2020, while I was away at my uncle’s place on the Lagos Mianland, I got a call from my sister, Dorcas Sunday-Nnana that some police officers whom she later discovered were Supol Johnbull, Officer Daniel Akpinale and an unnamed Female Police Officer were destroying my house and that Supol Johnbull slapped and pushed her down and also threatening to shoot her if she tries to resist them from carrying out the act and also forced my other sister, Diana Sunday-Nnana, a pregnant woman not to move from where she was seated at gun point, while the destruction was ongoing. And that after they were done with the destruction of the house, Supol Johnbull asked the other officers to take away zinc and informed her (Dorcas Sunday-Nnana) to tell me that if I still want the zinc I must go and apologise to Mr. Ime Okon as soon as I return and then come and see him to bail the zinc. More importantly and for clarification purposes, I want to categorically state here that it was only my house that was destroyed.

Upon my arrival, I went to the Police Post in order to enquire from Supol Johnbull the reason why my house was destryed and why he is detaining my zinc. Thus, in his response, Supol Johnbull informed me that he and his men were instructed by Mr. Ime Okon to destroy the house because I was being disrespectful to him and I should go and apologise to him (Mr. Ime Okon) and thereafter, come with sum of N15,000.00 (Fifteen Thousand Naira), to bail her zinc.

I want the whole world to know that Mr. Ime Okon has used the instrumentality of the Nigeria Police, through Supol Johnbull, Officer Daniel Akpinale and an unnamed female Police Officer to render me homeless, by destroying my house and means of livelihood, as all the equipment I use for my business were also destroyed and I lost all the monies I had saved in my house.

And the only offence I committed was being poor and unable to fight back in the midst of series of unprovoked oppression, humiliation, intimidation and victimization from Mr. Ime Okon and the Nigeria Police Force.