Abuja-based lawyer and human rights activist, Deji Adeyanju, has berated the operatives of the Lagos State Command of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) for allegedly humiliating a controversial singer, Habeeb Okikiola, a.k.a Portable, in a bid to arrest him over a civil matter.
LEADERSHIP earlier reported Portable’s arrest on Tuesday over a failed car purchase deal following his alleged refusal to pay the debt he incurred when he purchased a G-Wagon from a car dealer.
It was gathered that Portable, during the purchase of the vehicle worth N27m, paid only N13m and had refused to pay the N14m balance on the pretext that the car was faulty.
Viral video of his arrest later surfaced on the social media where he was seen being forcefully taken away by plain-clothed Policemen.
But, reacting to the development on Wednesday in a statement sent to LEADERSHIP, Barrister Adeyanju said the Police and other security agencies were not debt recovery agencies, hence he condemned the alleged humiliation of the singer by Policemen.
“Our attention has been drawn to a video making the rounds on the internet where Nigerian singer, Mr. Habeeb Okikiola (AKA Portable) was seen being 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. 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 goes uninvestigated,” Adeyanju stated.