A lawyer and human rights activist, Deji Adeyanju has strongly condemned what he called public humiliation and unnecessary use of force in the arrest of Habeeb Okikiola otherwise known as Portable by some officers of the Nigerian Police Force.
Adeyanju, who’s the Founding Partner of a law firm, Deji Adeyanju & Partners said in a statement sent to NewsNGR on Wednesday that the manner in which Portable was arrested was unnecessary.
Recall the singer was arrested on Tuesday over a business deal after he made an attempt to escape arrest.
He could be seen jumping over the fence when the police showed him a warrant for his arrest, in videos widely shared across social media.
Four police officers later chased him down and could be seen pinning him to the ground before forcefully taking him into their waiting vehicle.
The singer, NewsNGR gathered, slept in the station as he was unable to perfect the bail conditions given by the police.
He’s yet to be released at the time of filing this story according to sources.
Adeyanju, however, took exception to what he called unnecessary use of force, noting that the singer was humiliated by persons suspected to be officers of the Nigerian Police Force, in an attempt to forcefully arrest him over a civil matter.
“The unnecessary show of force employed by the officers in the arrest of a non-violent Nigerian citizen over a civil dispute, stands condemned,” the lawyer said.
He argued that, the police have no business arresting Portable as it is not a debt recovery agency.
“For the umpteenth time, it is necessary to state that security agencies, especially the Nigerian Police, are not debt recovery agencies and they have no role whatsoever to play in any alleged breach of contractual disputes.
“This point has been restated by the appellate courts on several occasions in cases like NA ALLAH v KOFAR KADE (NIG) LTD (2020) LPELR-49596 (CA), Okafor & Anor v AIG Police Zone II Onikan & Ors (2019) LPELR – 46505 (CA), etc.
“The Nigerian Police must return to its constitutional mandate and resist the urge to dabble into all manner of civil disputes, while more pressing crimes go uninvestigated,” he stated.