Comrade Balogun Olalekan has raised concerns about his safety, alleging that the Nigeria Police Force is targeting him for harassment over his criticism of the Nigerian police.
Balogun said he hasn’t committed any crime, other than participating in the #EndSARS struggle held in October 2021, during which he was brutalised, arrested and illegally detained.
According to Olalekan, his money stolen while in police custody got missing and his mobile phone also destroyed.
He emphasized his consistent stance against police brutality, saying, “I have always pick holes or punch any posts or comments by the police, especially when they release press statements about protests or protesters, laced with lies and propaganda. So, the police might have been looking for an opportunity to pick me up.”
“They have deployed men of Intelligence Response Team (IRT), a special tactical squad of the Nigeria Police Force to hunt for me anywhere,” the activist said.
He revealed the police had spread word to numerous individuals, falsely claiming he had a case to answer due to allegedly bullying many Nigerians, including himself, on social media.
According to the police, he should surrender to the police or face forced arrest. However, he countered that he had received no official police invitation regarding any alleged crime.
He questioned whether the Police aimed to exploit their position and authority to abduct him, merely to demonstrate their power.
Speaking from his place of hiding, Olalekan revealed that so many police officers have been calling and asking him to meet them at some locations, probably to abduct him.
According to him, some of the policemen have also made attempts to bully him.
According to her, one of such people identified as Isijola Victor, said “they have not beaten me up well and that’s why I am still talking”.
“He also called me unprintable names and when I said I’ll post it on Take It Back global platforms, he deleted some of the comments and locked his profile.
“They were bullying me on my page, especially on a particular post,” he said.
Narrating the event, she said: “On the 27th of October, Scotty Aluta of Take It Back Movement (TIB), Lagos coordinator called to tell me that SP Benjamin Hundeyin (Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer), requested for my contact from him and he wanted to give. So, I said no problem since I know he is my coordinator and I have confidence in the movement.
“SP Hundeyin later called me to say that his boss needed my number, I said okay, he paused for a while on the phone and told me it’s not the CP (Commissioner of Police) but ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi. I asked what Muyiwa needed my number for and he said probably he saw my video online and wanted to reach out to confirm my state of health, I said okay.
“Four days later, which was on a Thursday, (penultimate Thursday), a police officer called me and asked me to come to Akure, claiming that a petition was written against me. I posted the recorded conversation with the officer subsequently and his contact on the TIB group and lots of comrades called the officer.”
She further stated that when different people started calling him, he raised an alarm on different news platform.
Abiodun revealed that some police sources have also called and told him that Olumuyiwa Adejobi had given instructions to IRT personnel to find him by all means and bring him to Abuja as instructed by the IGP (Inspector General of Police).
“I have done nothing wrong, I am only being hunted for participating in the #EndSARS struggle in 2021 and for the past two years, I have been suffering from the consequence,” he said.
“I am not afraid but just letting Nigerians know that anything can happen from now as they are said to be tracing me through my Facebook friends and activists.”
He, however, added that when he responded to ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi’s message on Wednesday on a loop, he vowed to deal with him for ‘bullying’ him.
Meanwhile, efforts made by this organization to reach ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi on his mobile phone for his comments and reaction were unsuccessful at the time of filing this report.
