Eko Hot Blog reports that the Lagos State Police Command has denied arresting eight young men for playing ludo, accusing them of alleged unlawful assembly and drug abuse at Harmony Estate, Aboru, Lagos.
The command’s spokesperson, Benjamin Hundeyin, disclosed the development in a statement on Friday night.
The police operatives in the Lagos had been accused of attacking the suspects with bottles and machetes for allegedly resisting arrest when playing ludo.
However, Hundeyin accused the suspects of being in the habit of converging around the entrance of the estate in the morning and night gambling, selling/smoking hard drugs, harassing/hindering free movement of residents and extorting passers-by.
The police spokesperson, who also accused the suspects of assaulting officers, claimed that the reports that they were arrested for playing Ludo game were brought up by “some of the “miscreants who managed to escape” in a bid to change the narrative.
He noted that further investigations proved that four of the eight arrested were not culpable.
They were, therefore, freed while the remaining four, Afolabi Joshua ‘m’ aged 24, Isaiah Omogbolahan ‘m’ aged 25, Oluwadamilare Kayode ‘m’ aged 38 and Friday Anamaliu ‘m’ aged 40.
The police charged the remaining four suspects on Friday, March 1, 2024 at Ejigbo Magistrate Court and the court remanded them in prison custody till March 25, 2024.
“Following repeated complaints from residents of Harmony Estate, Aboru, Lagos about the activities of young men in the habit of converging around the entrance of the estate in the morning and night gambling, selling/smoking hard drugs, harassing/hindering free movement of residents and extorting passers-by, operatives of the Command drawn from Area P, Alagbado carried out a thorough surveillance of the area and subsequently stormed the area at about 0800 hours on Thursday, February 29, 2024, to arrest the miscreants,” the statement reads.
“A total of eight suspects were arrested with substances, suspected to be hard drugs, resulting in the blockage of road by other miscreants who demanded the release of their cohorts before the Police could leave the vicinity.
“The miscreants equally assaulted the officers, who, however, called for and received reinforcement, enabling them to successfully move the suspects and exhibits to the station.
“Further investigations at the station proved that four of the eight arrested were not culpable. They were, therefore, freed while the remaining four, Afolabi Joshua ‘m’ aged 24, Isaiah Omogbolahan ‘m’ aged 25, Oluwadamilare Kayode ‘m’ aged 38 and Friday Anamaliu ‘m’ aged 40, were arraigned on March 1, 2024 at Ejigbo Magistrate Court and remanded by the court in prison custody till March 25, 2024.
“News making the rounds that the suspects were arrested for playing Ludo game are entirely false and only brought up by some of the miscreants, who managed to escape, in a bid to change the narrative and divert attention from the real issues.
“The Lagos States Police Command will not succumb to social media blackmail, and would continue to uphold its mandate to maintain law and order, and protect the lives and property of Lagosians.”
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