RULAAC Seeks Inspector-General Disu’s Intervention As Police Detain Two Minors In Search For Lagos Businessman | Sahara Reporters

The rights group emphasised that children, spouses, workers or relatives must not be used as substitutes or leverage to compel another person to surrender to police.

The Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre (RULAAC) has called on the Inspector-General of Police, Olatunji Disu, to urgently intervene following the reported detention of two minors by officers connected to Area F, Ikeja, Lagos State.

Chinedu Eyah, 16, and Kosisochukwu Onojo, 15, were allegedly arrested at the residence of Mr. Timothy Chika Odoh after they had gone to Jibowu Park to waybill inverter batteries to a customer.

According to RULAAC’s statement released on Saturday, an officer identified as Mr. Lawal told Mr. Odoh that he was the person the police were looking for in connection with a complaint.

“If either child is reasonably suspected of personally committing an offence, the allegation should be disclosed and investigated with full observance of the safeguards applicable to children,” RULAAC stated.

“If they are being detained merely because the police are looking for Chika, they should be released immediately.”

The rights group emphasised that children, spouses, workers or relatives must not be used as substitutes or leverage to compel another person to surrender to police.

The development follows the reported arrest on 22 September 2026 of Mr. Odoh’s wife, Mrs. Ogechi Juliet Chika, when officers visited their residence in her husband’s absence.

She was released after intervention by the Lagos State Commissioner of Police. Mr. Odoh alleges that his pregnant wife suffered a miscarriage the following day, which he attributes to the trauma of her arrest.

RULAAC noted that the incidents form part of a wider series of police actions involving Mr. Odoh, his workers, family and business through Zone 2 Command, FCID Annex Alagbon and formations under the Lagos State Police Command.

At the centre of Mr. Odoh’s allegations is Mr. Uche Ozoigwe, identified as a security manager associated with ATC Telecommunications.

Mr. Odoh alleged that Mr. Ozoigwe had previously threatened to ensure his imprisonment and to drive him out of the battery business.

“The continuing movement of complaints and police actions across different formations raises a legitimate question: are these genuinely separate criminal complaints supported by independent evidence, or substantially related allegations producing repeated arrests, searches and seizures that are progressively disrupting Chika’s family and business?” RULAAC queried.

The group has asked the IGP to consolidate all related files from Zone 2 Command, FCID Annex Alagbon, Lagos State Police Command/Area F and any other formation involved, and assign them to one independent investigative team under Force Headquarters.

RULAAC stressed it is not asking that Mr. Odoh be shielded from legitimate investigation.

It urged that if telecommunications equipment found in his possession was stolen, investigators should identify the items by serial numbers, match them against company asset registers and trace them to specific reported incidents. Mr. Odoh should equally account for the goods and produce evidence of lawful acquisition.

“Evidence should settle the matter — not an endless succession of arrests,” the statement read.

The immediate priority, RULAAC emphasised, is the welfare and liberty of Chinedu Eyah and Kosisochukwu Onojo.

The group called on the IGP to urgently ascertain their whereabouts and legal status and secure their release unless there is a lawful and individual evidential basis for proceeding against either child.

“Let all the related files come onto one table. Let the evidence establish the truth,” RULAAC concluded.