Protest as police fail to arraign alleged land grabbers

About 120 residents of Oko-Olomi community in Ibeju Lekki, Lagos State on Wednesday protested the failure of the police to arraign land grabbing suspects, Alhaji Mutairu Owoeye and Ganiyu ‘Garba’ Owoeye, at the Igbosere Magistrates’ Court, Lagos.
The men and women from 15 villages in the community said they had been summoned to the court by the police to testify of the invasion and destruction of their homes on April 17 by thugs allegedly hired by the suspects.
Speaking through their counsel, Shem Popoola, they displayed a warrant for the arrest of Owoeye and one Ganiyu ‘Garba’ Owoeye issued on October 19 by a Wuse Magistrates’ Court, Abuja in suit No: IBK/FIB/FCIID/FHQ/ABJ/171/ 2016.
The warrant, Popoola said, was issued following an October 5 petition to the Deputy Inspector-General of Police, Force Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department, Abuja.
Popoola said: “They were arrested on Monday by a team from the Force Investigation and Intelligence Bureau, Abuja and the head of the FIIB, Assistant Inspector General of Police Shehu Umar, ordered on Tuesday that they should be arraigned in Igbosere this morning (yesterday).
“We got to the court this morning and there was no suspect, no Investigative Police Officer and no prosecutor. I called the Commissioner of Police Legal Department, Abuja and the prosecutor handling the case, Superintendent A. Oluwole, said his office had prepared the charge but had not seen the suspects.
“We later found out that the suspects were released at 4pm on Tuesday, just after we left the AIG’s office and that no one knew where they were.
“We are shocked that people who were arrested on a warrant issued by a court could be released just like that.”
Popoola added that their homes were destroyed despite an injunction by Justice Abisoye Bashua of Lagos High Court, Epe in suit No: EPD/047/2016 ordering Mutairu Owoeye “to remove all thugs and hoodlums” in Oko-Olomi.
He added: “The villagers were violently attacked by the hoodlums and are all on exile. We complained to the police at Zone II, Onikan, to no avail. That’s why we went to Abuja. Our lives are in danger. We have been receiving threat messages from two phone numbers. We are crying for justice.”