Oye Happy Over Release Of Abass, Says Fight Against Police Brutality Not Over

By ADEOLA ABIOLA, Lagos

The fiery Lagos based legal Practitioner and Social Commentator, Oye Ademiluyi has expressed happiness on the release of an activist, Tunde Abass who was detained for allegedly taking photographs of a scene of brutality against a woman.

Relaying Abass ordeal while in the Police custody , at the Onipanu Division where he was denied food brought by his friends and beaten like a common criminal.

Ademiluyi reported that Abass’ release was made possible by his counsel, Mr Adesina Ogunlana and himself.

Ademiluyin expressed his disappointment over continual acts of violence against innocent citizens by the Police in a statement he personally sent to NewsTrack Nigeria (newstrack.com.ng).

His statement reads:

I am pleased to write that the person of TUNDE ABASS, an activist who was arrested for taking videos of Police officers attached to Onipanu Division of Nigeria Police Force has been released. This follows spirited social media and legal campaign mounted for his release.

Mr. TUNDE ABASS was released at the Office of the Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Muyiwa Adejobi , who literally took to Twitter to respond to the trending campaign for the release of Tunde ABASS.

Upon his release and in discussion with his counsel, the duo of Mr. Adesina Ogunlana and myself, he narrated his traumatising ordeal for two days, Saturday and Sunday, 20th and 21st March, 2021 at the Onipanu Division where he was denied food brought by his friends and beaten black and blue. He was also detained with a mentally deformed detainee who made his midnight sleep a miserable one by kicking him in the sides.

He narrated how he was taken to the Yaba Magistrate Court, where the Police officers who brought him from Onipanu Division were not successful in filing trumped up charges against him after same was rejected by Counsel from the Department of Public Relations , who vetted the charges.

They returned him back to the cell at Onipanu Division before taking him to Legal Department of the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department, Panti where the Police Officers from Onipanu Division were unsuccessful in getting a charge preferred against him.

In frustration, they handed him over to Divisional Police Officer of Pedro Police Station who kept him in a dark and dingy solitary cell, where nobody will have access to him .

The continuous social media campaign forced the Police Public Relations Officer to begin a “damage control Public Relations ” which now led to being taken from Pedro Police Station to Oduduwa Crescent , the Office of the Police Public Relations Officer , where he was eventually released.

However , the struggle against police brutality continues as  a Press Conference on #JusticeforTundeAbass will hold on Thursday , 25th March, 2021 by 10am at Rights House, Ikeja , Lagos State.

AYO ADEMILUYI ESQ.
Lagos,