Fear and pains were etched out starkly on the face of Mrs. Adedoyin Badmus. As she narrates the story of how two of her kids, Anuoluwapo 21, and Ismaila Badmus 19, ended up in prison, tears welled in her eyes and trickled down her cheeks. She said her worst nightmare was that one day; prison officials would call her to say her sons were dead. She sniffs: “I’m so scared. I don’t know what else to do. I’m begging the police to take a second look at the case. I implore the government to cross check facts on this issue.
My kids are innocent! They are not armed robbers! Please, they shouldn’t die in prison. If someone must go to prison, it shouldn’t be my innocent boys.” According to the woman, the story and subsequent journey of her kids to prison started in June 2014, after they were allegedly fingered for a crime they didn’t commit.
She said they would have been burnt alive but for the intervention of a woman. Today, Anuoluwapo and Ismaila, would have spent seven months in Kirikiri Prisons. Adedoyin said that although she has two girls and the two boys in question, but her life simply seemed to have stopped since their incarceration. “My kids became everything to me after their dad left us,” she cried.
“I’m just a petty trader. I know that if I had money, my boys wouldn’t be in prison today.” In June 18, 2014, four men were almost killed at the Oworoshoki area of the Lagos metropolis, after a group of suspected cult members invaded their homes. The cultists, armed with dangerous weapons, machete the four men and were about to set them ablaze when a Good Samaritan appeared from nowhere and tried to save them.
The four men are Anuoluwapo Badmus, Ismaila Badmus, Korede Sule 25, and one Mumuni, surname yet unknown. When the cultists refused to heed the Good Samaritan, she quickly put a call across to the police. An eye witness who sought anonymity, said: “When the police came, they shot sporadically into the air.
The cult members ran in different directions. The police took the four men to Area H Police Headquarters, Ogudu, Ojota, Lagos.” The witness continued: “It all started on June 18, 2014, I was on the street, playing draft with friends when I saw a group of people running. I stood to check what was going on. I saw some guys with machetes and other dangerous weapons. I tried to ask questions, but they wouldn’t heed me. The group went into No 8 Lagos Street.
They entered Anuoluwapo Badmus and Ismaila Badmus’ room. One of their friends, Mumuni was in the room with them. He came to charge his phone. The gang threatened to kill Anuoluwapo. They told him that they were on a revenge mission.
They started inflicting him with machete cuts. His brother, Ismaila tried to save him. “He asked them what Anuoluwapo had done to anger them. But rather than reply, they pounced on him and Mumuni.
They stripped them naked, took them round the areas, calling them thieves. On the road, they met Korede Sule, a friend of Anuoluwapo. He too asked why the men were being beaten. Immediately the gang pounced on him. When they got to Car Wash Bus-stop area, they attempted to set the four of them on fire.” A woman, later discovered to be the Good Samaritan, watching the would later described it as man’s inhumanity to man. She was the Good Samaritan that alerted Area H Police Command, where the divisional police officer in charge of Ogudu Police Station came and took over the matter.
The eye witness said: “The DPO ordered that the boys should be taken to the police clinic so that their wounds would be treated. But two days later, they were transferred to SARS Ikeja. SARS men requested for some amount of money to be paid.
Mumuni had severe injury his body and head. A lawyer assisted us in his bail. When we noticed that the boys were staying more than expected in SARS Ikeja, we went to Federal SARS Adeniji, where we got a letter. Federal SARS called SARS Ikeja, saying that the case should be transferred to them. We didn’t know what happened, but SARS Ikeja charged the matter to court. Within this period, we had spent N150, 000.”
It was gathered that after two weeks investigation, police took Ismaila to the community and arrested one Adeola Adebola. Ismaila had fingered him as one of the cultists that attacked and tried to set them on fire. Immediately he was arrested, Adebola saw no reason to go down alone. He mentioned the name of his leader, Obasanjo. Residents described Obasanjo as a notorious land grabber. The four rescued men were however shocked to see a top ranking chief of the Oba of Oworonshoki, at the station. He took the bail of Obasanjo. Rather than for Obasanjo and his gang of suspected cultists to be charged to court, four men; Anuoluwapo, Ismaila, Sule and Adebola were charged.
The four men were remanded in Kirikiri Prison from the court. The four men are still in prison and the case had not been called to court since the first time the men were charged to Court 20, Ikeja. Adedoyin said: “If other parents have forgotten their kids, I’ve not forgotten mine. I pray every day for them. The trouble is that I don’t know what else to do!” It was learned that prison officials were worried over the plight of the four men. They had stayed in prison for close to seven months and nobody seemed to care whether they go to court or not. The prison officials alerted a nongovernment organization, Know Your Right Initiative (KnoRights), located at Ikotun, Lagos.
The leader of the NGO, Mr. Olusegun Adeeko took up the matter. He went to the prisons to see and interviewed the men. He and his members further carried out investigation, including going to the scene at Oworoshoki where the whole drama started. They came back with a gut feeling that the Ismaila, Anuoluwapo and Sule were innocent. When Adedoyin came to New Telegraph office, to narrate the story of how her kids were rescued and later imprisoned, Adeeko was with her.
Adeeko said: “The men were believed to be armed robbers that invaded a building at Oworoshoki Lagos, on June 14, 2014. Adeola Adebola was arrested after he fingered the leader of the group that led the cultists to met out jungle justice on the supposed armed robbers.” Adedoyin recounted: “I was not at home when the incident happened. Someone called me on phone and I rushed home. My neighbours told me what happened. Immediately, I dashed to Alonge Police Station in Oworonshoki.
The policemen there told me that my sons had been taken to Area H Police Command, at Ogudu. I ran to the place. I didn’t see my kids. Police kept dribbling me.” According to the worried woman, the matter was later transferred to the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), Ikeja, Lagos State Police Command, where a policeman, identified as Good Friday, finally told her why her sons were being held. She said: “Good Friday told us that it was a case between cultist members. He told me to be prayerful. I asked if my children were dead, he said no. Perhaps seeing how scared I was, the SARS men allowed me to see them. My heart broke when I first caught sight of them. My kids were seriously injured with bruises on them. I noticed that someone had shot Anuoluwapo’s leg. I wasn’t given enough time to speak with them. I wanted to know if they were cultists as the police alleged.
My sons told the police that one Obasanjo, known to almost everyone in Oworoshoki came to attack them at home. He told the police that while the cult members masked their faces, the said Obasanjo wore no mask.” She recalled that two weeks after the arrest of her boys, Adeola Adebola, a member of the Eiye confraternity, led police to Obasanjo. “We heard that the Oba of Oworoshoki told the police not to Obasanjo away, but the police insisted.
Obasanjo was detained but was later released on bail. The Oba later assisted and sent him to Mecca.” Adeeko said that when KnoRight went to Oworoshoki, where the brothers lived and were apprehended, the truth was discovered. He said the brothers were labeled robbers, adding that it was all a lie. He explained that when KnoRights interviewed a landlord’s in the area, Mr. Adefupe, he narrated that the incident happened on a day a birthday party was going on.
Adeeko said: “Adefupe told us that on June 14, 2014, while a birthday party was going on in their compound, some boys came with cutlasses to rob the whole tenants of their valuables. After the robbery, nobody bothered to inform the police of what transpired that day. They said it wasn’t the first time such a robbery would be taking place in the area. Adefupe said that on June 18, he saw some men who had been stripped naked. They had blood stains on their bodies. When Adefupe asked what the men had done, he was told that they robbed a house.” Adeeko explained that after gathering reports from eye witnesses, he went to the prison to have a chat with the brothers.
He said he couldn’t understand why SARS Ikeja, rushed the brothers to courts, moments after Federal SARS called for the file. Adeeko stated: “When we interviewed some of the residents, they told us truly that men of the underworld robbed them and that some police men came some weeks later to the house. The policemen told them that they had caught the people that robbed them.” Adeeko said a look at the charge sheet, showed that the suspects were facing a seven count charge. He also discovered some of the persons who claimed their items were robbed at the birthday party were mysterious, almost none existing. “Nobody knows the names on the charge sheet,” said Adeeko.
“The names might be fabricated. Even the people at the party don’t know these names. How did the police get the names of the supposed victims? And who are they? When did they go to the police to report?”
He added: “ The police charge sheet is dated July 16, whereas, the boys were already in the police custody before the date that the police gave on their charge sheet. The SARS men knew that a letter was coming, they decided to charge the suspects to court. They knew that if they received the letter while the boys were still with them, they would not be charged to court. The case was then charged to court. When a robbery case is been charged to court, it is not a bail able offence, in the process, the Magistrate of the court, will send holding charge, then advise the prosecutor, to duplicate the case file to Director of Public Prosecution(DPP), waiting for DPP’s advice.
“The case of the boys is under DPP, waiting for DPP’s advice. And that is why we wrote a petition to the Minister of Justice and DPP, so that the DPP will accelerate their case, and look into their matter so that the advice can come up earlier. DPP should give them no case submission based on evidence supplied. The evidence showed that it was trumped up charges, since there were no arms found on them. They are not armed robbers! If this is not done, they may spend close to five years in prison without anything being done.”
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