Eromosele Adene, one of the campaigners of the #EndSARS movement, who was reportedly arrested on Saturday, by the Nigeria Police Force, has been transferred to Abuja, from Lagos.
According to Punch, His sister, Onomene Adene, alleged the move was made because Lagos is the epicentre of the protest and her brother’s detention could spark a protest in the state.
Eromosele, who is a musician and a civil rights activist, was arrested by 15 policemen at his home located in the Ikeja area of Lagos State on Saturday.
He was subsequently taken before the Commissioner of Police, Hakeem Odumosu, and then transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department, Panti before being taken to Area F, Ikeja.
However, his sister told our correspondent that when her brother’s lawyer arrived at the Area F command on Monday, he was informed that Eromosele had been moved.
She said, “He has been moved to Abuja and I think they decided to move him because they would not be able to control the outrage in Lagos.”
The Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, had told all police formations across the country to ensure that there were no more protests across the nation, a move which activists say is at variance with the constitution.
It was learnt that Eromosele and some others had planned to hold a protest on Saturday and had distributed fliers to the effect which contained his phone number.
Policemen were said to have got hold of the flier, tracked his phone, and arrested him at his house.
Onomene said, “He was detained for over 48 hours without bail. He was first taken to the CP’s office in Lagos, then moved to Panti. When the noise started, he was moved to Area F and on Monday morning, when the lawyer visited the place, we were told he had been moved.”
When contacted on the telephone, the Police Public Relations Officer in Lagos State, Muyiwa Adejobi, said he would find out what was happening.
Earlier last week, there were reports that Federal Government had begun a clampdown on persons involved in the #EndSARS protest.
The Central Bank of Nigeria had frozen 20 bank accounts belonging to persons involved in the protest while the Nigeria Immigration Service stopped one of such protesters, Modupe Odele, from leaving the country and seized her passport.
ARREST
LN24 gathered that a protest had been slated to hold at the Allen Junction in Ikeja when the policemen besieged Eromosele’s house and whisked him away.
His sister, Florence, who confirmed the arrest said one of the policemen deceived her by claiming that he had a parcel to deliver to their father around 7 am on Saturday.
“When I met them, they told me that they were actually looking for my brother and instructed me to take them to our house, but I refused. They said they did a business with him and sent money to his Zenith Bank’s account but the commodity was not delivered. I told them that I did not believe their story and insisted that they give me a valid explanation.
“I was dragging with them when three Hilux patrol vehicles with about 15 policemen armed with AK-47 rifles stormed where we stood. I became terrified and had to lead them to my house.
“But when we got into my compound, I asked why they were looking for my brother again and they still claimed the same transaction story. I knew their story was false and that they were looking for him because of the #EndSARS protest.
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“My brother, who was inside the room, kept posting online that security agents were at his place to arrest him. The policemen became annoyed when they saw the posts and demanded that he pulled them down. So, we told him to pull the posts down and he did, but they still took him away to the office of the Commissioner of Police.
“He was there for about three hours but they didn’t do anything. We left with our lawyer and parents around 8pm. We became surprised when we heard that they had moved him to the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department, Yaba, on Sunday. They later brought him back and put him inside a cell in Area F.”
One of the organisers of the protest, Juwon Sanyaolu, while condemning the arrest, said Eromosele was tracked.
He said, “The moment the fliers about the Allen Junction protest started circulating, we started receiving different calls. On Friday, he informed me that he received a call from the Lagos Air Force Commander, who claimed to have discussed with the Commissioner of Police and that they both agreed not to attack the protest but give us maximum protection.
“But little did we know that that phone call was a ploy to actually track his location. Everyone who converged on Allen Junction for the protest was intimidated, so, we had to settle for an alternative venue, somewhere around the Gani Fawehimi library.
“We were protesting there and journalists were covering the protest when the police came and violently disrupted the protest. It is not the job of the police to subvert people’s right to protest. It shows how far the Buhari government is ready to go to ensure they turn us into a conquered people.”
No statement has been made by the state Police Public Relations Officer, Muyiwa Adejobi as of the time this report was filed.
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