The Divisional Police Officer, Igbogbo Police Division, Ikorodu, Lagos State, has been detained at the State Department of Criminal Investigation, Yaba, for his failure to account for the whereabouts of Waidi Kabiru, who was abducted from the station about a month ago.
PUNCH Metro learnt that the DPO was arrested on Friday on the order of the state Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni.
It was gathered that the CP had on Friday, December 11, given the DPO a four-day ultimatum to produce the 26-year-old youth who was abducted from the police cell by some masked men on November 23.
PUNCH Metro learnt that Owoseni specifically ordered the DPO to produce him last Wednesday or risk being sanctioned.
It was gathered that the CP invited Waidi’s family and the DPO for a meeting at the state police command headquarters, Ikeja, penultimate Saturday, where he gave the directive.
Prior to the meeting, the parents – Karimat Adebanbi and Bisiriyu Kabiru – had accused the police of being indifferent to the whereabouts of their son, despite a petition sent to the CP.
PUNCH Metro had exclusively reported on December 1 that Waidi was arrested during a raid on Shelewu Road, Ikorodu, and detained at the station. He was, however, abducted from the station after some policemen turned down a sum of N4,000 bribe initially offered by his father to facilitate his release.
However, the command had refuted the abduction, saying the youth was released to a surety who had yet to be identified.
The grandmother of the victim, Mrs. Ajoke Pedro, on Saturday told PUNCH Metro that the CP promised to reunite Waidi with the family.
She said, “The CP invited the family and the DPO to a meeting and he instructed him to produce Waidi on or before last Wednesday, but he has failed to do so. On Friday, I called the CP to know our fate and he said the DPO has been arrested. I later leant that the DPO had indeed been detained.”
Waidi’s mother, Adebanbi, urged the police not to sweep the matter under the carpet, adding that the DPO had said the matter would eventually die down.
She said, “We appreciate the interest the CP has shown in the case recently. We don’t want the case to stop with the DPO’s arrest.”
A police source told our correspondent that the CP had been summoned from the Force headquarters in Abuja on the incident and had been mandated to unravel the circumstances surrounding Waidi’s disappearance.
The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Joe Offor, said he had not been briefed on the arrest by the CP. He, however, said he was aware that the DPO was given a query.
He said, “I am aware that the CP issued the DPO a query to explain how the suspect was released and the details of the surety he claimed stood for him (Waidi). I have not been told of his arrest.”
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