Retired Customs officer tackles police over vehicle seizure

A retired Nigeria Customs Service officer, Akeem Sanyaolu, has raised the alarm over alleged harassment and unlawful seizure of property by officers of the Nigeria Police Force from the Zone 2 headquarters covering Lagos and Ogun states.

Sanyaolu who spoke with PUNCH Metro on Monday said he was on a trip outside Lagos on February 5, 2020, when his wife called to notify him that some police officers had forcefully entered his premises.

He alleged that the officers went straight to where he parked his three Ford caravan buses and drove them away.

According to him, the officers who also carted away some documents from his home, carried out the operation without a warrant or court order.

He said, “On the 5th day of February 2020, my wife called me and informed me that some officers of the Nigeria police force were in my house at Ojuore in Sango Ota, moving my three buses (Ford caravans) and some important documents and items from the house, claiming that they were stolen items from Tincan Port and that one Inspector Ola dropped his phone number.

“I later discovered that it was the police from the Zone 2 Command, who had forced their way into my house without any warrant or court order and had taken away the three buses and some important documents and items. These are items I legitimately paid for with my hard-earned money. I called the said Inspector Ola several times but he refused to pick up my calls.”

Sanyaolu said several efforts to recover his properties proved abortive after which he lodged a complaint to the Inspector General of Police through his solicitor on August 4, 2022.

According to him, this led to an investigation into the matter by the office of the Assistant Inspector General of Police Zone 2 Command headquarters in Lagos.

“Unfortunately, there was to be no progress on the matter as the case file was not given attention. This made me write an application through another firm of solicitors in Lagos on May 28, 2024, requesting the transfer of the case file from DSP Idris and his team to OCZEB to enable them to conclude their investigation.

“The OCZEB and his team have been calm in their conduct but he led me and my agent to one ASP Felix’s office also in that same Zone 2. I was embarrassed and humiliated by the utterances of the said ASP who started calling me ‘a thief’ saying that was how I had been doing. They will give him a container to clear and he will steal them.”

Displeased by the utterance, Sanyaolu said this led to a formal demand that the ASP should retract the alleged defamatory statement against him.

He added that the police claimed they were acting on a petition against him but failed to provide a copy of the petition.

According to him, the three Ford caravan buses and other seized items remained unreleased four years later, despite his repeated efforts to recover them.

“The officers in charge of my case file at Zone 2 have continued to suppress my efforts to recover the vehicles despite my last letter to the AIG, Zone 2 Onikan on June 3, 2024,” he added.

When contacted, the spokesperson for Zone 2, Ayuba Umma, said she would make her findings on the allegations.

“I will make findings and get back to you,” she said. She was not able to get back to our correspondent after a while as of the time of filing this report.