FIJ
On Wednesday, the police arrested and detained Lanre Shotunde, a hotelier based in Ogun State, in lieu of Olamide Abiodun Thomas, an activist and his Facebook friend whom the police are after on the orders of Kayode Egbetokun, the Inspector General of Police (IGP). The police did not release Shotunde until 7:56 pm on Thursday. The police first arrested his mother in a bid to lure him to Lafenwa Police Station in Abeokuta, from where he was moved to Obada Station and eventually to Sango Ota Station. In this interview with FIJ’s Abimbola Abatta on Friday, he details how the police asked him to produce Thomas because they felt they must be more than acquaintances due to a post on a WhatsApp group, where someone had jokingly labelled her his wife.
How did the police arrest you?
At about 10:12 am on November 6, I received a call from my sister. She said my mom had been arrested at Lafenwa Police Station and I had to come because the target of the police was my humble self. Immediately after I received that call, I went to the police station. I should have informed my lawyer and some other people, but I did not offend anyone, so I felt there was no need for that. I felt they probably wanted to interview me and that would be all. When I got there, they did not even ask me anything. They handcuffed me straight away.
They said they were taking me to Abuja. I did not argue with them because they were fully armed and they were five men. So, I could not have argued with them. I went down straight to their car and we drove to Sango Ota Station. On our way, when we got to Itori, they turned back and took me to Obada station. When we got there, they asked me to come down. Then they played the video of the lady, Abiodun Thomas, who was insulting the Inspector General of Police (IGP), the president’s son and police spokesman Muyiwa Adejobi. Immediately they showed me that video, I asked them if they arrested me because of it, and they said yes.
What did you do or say afterwards?
I told them that if that was the case, I did not think the issue would be resolved in Abuja. Maybe they should take it to the international level because I had no hands in the video. I don’t even know the person. I have never met her not even once. Although she is a friend on Facebook, we are also members of a WhatsApp group, Ogun State People’s Parliament (OPP), where people share information. Dignitaries from the state are in the group. Even the Ogun State PPRO is a member of the group. I told them to take me to any length, and we drove to Sango.
What happened at Sango Police Station?
When we got there, they asked me to write a statement, and I asked them: “What will I write? On what basis?” They said my connection with the lady. They said there was a tag in the WhatsApp group, where someone tagged my name and said: “Go and bail your wife.” They said that the word “wife” meant I was close to Abiodun Thomas. I wrote the statement and within the twinkle of an eye, they said they would take me to Abuja on Thursday morning. They said they did not have the money to fly me, but they were waiting for the directive of the IGP. They said I had an issue with the IGP, not any other person. I said no problem.
During that period, we were trying to call some people as well. I was able to call a former minister who said he had called the force PPRO and that he did not pick up. From what I heard, a lot of people called the PPRO on my behalf and sent him messages, but he did not respond to any.
On Thursday, the national president of the hoteliers’ association, whose member I am, and other members came to the station around 4:07 pm. They spoke with the policemen, who said they were waiting for the directive from Unlce Muyiwa [NPF spokesperson]. They said he was the only one who could remove me from that detention.
And then…?
I guess there was an online programme where Uncle Muyiwa was informed and I think it was during that period that they started changing the narrative. They said I should provide the lady. I said I did not have any contact with her. I told them they could check my phone and see if they would find her contact or even pictures.
Did they take your phone away from you?
When I was going there, I did not prepare anything. I did not take my charger along, and my battery was almost drained. When I got there, there was no means of charging or communicating with my people. It was late in the night when one of the officers assisted me in charging my phone. That was how I was able to inform people about what was going on.
Around 6:48 pm on Thursday, the policeman in charge named Jude came to me. The man was actually reasonable enough. He acted professionally. He told me that he had been trying to reach the president of the Hoteliers’ Association of Nigeria (HON). He said they got the directive from Abuja that he should release me on bail.
Release you on bail?
Yes. But I told him that I was not going to take any bail because I had not committed any offence and I did not have issues with anybody. So, if there was a matter between the IGP and me, the IGP should come and tell me what I did. And if it warrants bail, they can go ahead. Jude told me that that was the only way. He said I still had some information to give them concerning the lady and they still needed certain things from me. They said there must be someone who could stand for me.
I asked them if the bail required me or the person to pay any money, and they said no. They said it was free. So I called the president of the hoteliers’ association, and he said he was far from the station. He said he would call the chairman of the Sango zone of the association. The chairman came around 7:23 pm, and we perfected the bail without any ransom. There was no money involved.
Before he came, they were planning to take me to Abeokuta on Friday morning. They said I should arrange for a car that would take us to Abeokuta so that I would take them to the admin of that WhatsApp group, probably they would be able to track Thomas. I made them understand that I did not know anybody anywhere and told them it was better to let me remain at the station until they finished their investigation.
However, after the whole story, I was asked to be released. That was how I was released around 7:56 pm, and I left the station around 8:01 pm.
How would you describe this ordeal? Would you have ever imagined being arrested in his manner?
It is barbaric and a misuse of power. I was not the target. I do not know the person they are tracing. And for them to have gotten to arrest my mother is absurd. Also, for them to be able to track my mother to get me, they should be able to track the suspect. I don’t know what is stopping them. I don’t know their mission because I have no connection with the person.
Meanwhile, around 4:25 pm on Thursday, my sister sent me a message to check Facebook; she said the lady, Thomas, had posted another video. But I could not even watch the video because she had blocked me. I then asked her to send the message to the Investigating Police Officer (IPO). When he saw the video, he stood up and went to their controller, they were furious and said someone was feeding her information. They said how did she know that my mom was arrested?
I asked them if they expected me to keep mute. Also, when they arrested my mom, it was in the presence of my sister. She would equally be relaying information to people. They could not have expected her to keep mute while I was being harassed for unlawful action. At the end of the day, they said I was not helping their matter. I told them that they could tack her through other means but not by harassing innocent citizens.
How is your mum?
Immediately after they saw me that Wednesday, they left her. It’s not really as if she was detained. They just asked her to sit somewhere. She was not handcuffed.
