Woman tortured for stealing iPad writes police commissioner

Karamat Eleha, a trader at the Balogun Market, Lagos State, who was tortured by four policemen, has petitioned the state Commissioner of Police, Kayode Aderanti, to get justice for her.

Eleha, in the letter dated June 2, 2015, and made available to PUNCH Metro, urged the commissioner to investigate the assault and sanction the cops accordingly. She said she could identify her tormentors.

The command’s Public Relations Officer, DSP Kenneth Nwosu, had said “there was no issue of torture.”

But the petition read in part, “On May 14, 2015, One Shola Ogunbayo, one Kemi (Iya Ibeji) and I were arrested by men from SARS, Ikeja, on the allegation that a tracker revealed that one iPad that was stolen from a woman in Ajah was in our building in Idumagbo. We were subsequently taken to SARS, Ikeja and detained.

I was subjected to extreme torture, degrading and inhuman treatment after I was stripped naked. As a result, severe injuries were inflicted on my back and buttocks by the policemen.

“I hold the view that the action of these policemen was reckless, high-handed and oppressive. It is repressive to the extreme and shows a total disregard for the standard set up by the law and the office of the Inspector General of Police. I implore you to use your good offices to order an immediate and thorough investigation into this matter and mete necessary sanction to serve as a deterrent to others. I can identify all of them if seen.”