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An unidentified suspect has allegedly died while in police custody in Lagos State.
It
was gathered that the suspect was arrested and detained at the Denton
police station at Ebute-metta area of the state but allegedly died while
in the cell.
It is not clear what the said suspect was arrested for.
It is
also not yet ascertained when the suspect was arrested but a reliable
police source stated that the death is causing ripple in the police
command as the Commissioner of police , Mr. Umar Manko had summoned the
Divisional Police Officer of the station over the death.
In a related development, officers of the Lagos State government
have allegedly raided suspected street urchins in the Surulere local
government area of the state.
Eyewitnesses stated that more than twenty persons were hauled into three vehicles used as mobile cell.
The vehicles had the inscription, Ministry of Youth ,Sports and Social Development (MYSSD).
The
eyewitnesses said the mobile cells were crowded with people with the
officials seen last Friday moving from street to streets picking
people mostly beggars and forcing them into the vehicles which they
locked with padlocks .
" I was going to work when I noticed the vehicles conveying people
in a cell. The vehicles over overcrowded with people inside but the
officers kept moving from street to street, along Akerele, Lawanson and
Ogunlana drive. They were picking mostly beggars and persons considered
as wanderers . They kept the people in the overcrowded mobile cell as
they move from street to street. I heard them screaming for help".
The eyewitness added that the state officers frequently storm the area on routine raid .
" Some times you will just see the Rapid Respond Squad policemen raiding okada at Lawanson, they come here often to raid".
When contacted on the arrest of commercial motorcycle riders in
Surulere area of the State , the Commissioner of police, Lagos State
police command Mr. Umar Manko stated that commercial motorcycle riders
popularly refer to as Okada are banned from restricted streets and
roads.
" The law banning okada riders from some routes is there and the
policemen are just enforcing it. We will continue to raid and arrest
them as long as they refuse to adhere to the law" Mr. Manko said .
It is feared that the
Lagos State government may "deport" persons raided in the state to
other parts of the country as they did with the recent "deportation" of
Igbos to Anambra state.
The said deportation has
produced mixed reactions among Nigerians as the Igbo and human rights
group condemned the action as they stated the move was discriminatory
and an abuse of fundamental human rights of Nigerians to live in any
part of the country . Others however see the move as a welcome
development in achieving the state's mega city status.
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