Idowu Orekunrin, a lawyer, is pleading with Dr. Solomon Arase, the chairman of the Police Service Commission, and Idowu Owohunwa, the commissioner of police for Lagos State, to indict Assistant Superintendent of Police Cosmos Ejiofor, alias Tam-Tam, assigned to D16 of the State Criminal Intelligence and Investigations Department, Panti, Yaba, for allegedly taking property from his client, Ositadin In a petition to Arase and the CP, the attorney from the offices of I. O. Lala and Idowu Orekunrin stated the requests.
The unregistered GLK Mercedes Benz 2013 model, priced at N14.5 million, a Nokia Lumia 900 phone, valued at N300,000, and his international passport were among the things described by Orekunrin as having been taken from his client. Along with having an affair with his ex-wife, abusing police authority, demanding an N1 million bribe, and neglecting his duties, Okololeni also charged Ejiofor with these offenses. Additionally, Orekunrin said that Ejiofor, who smashed Okololeni's head, tortured his client. The attorney believed that Ejiofor's acts were a clear perversion of justice, a violation of the dignity and reputation of the Nigeria Police Force, and behavior unworthy of an officer of the law. Therefore, he requested that an inquiry into the claims be started by the PSC and the Commissioner of Police.
The attorney introduced himself as the legal company representing Mr. Ositadinma Vincent Okoloneli and said that they had filed the petition on his behalf. As stated in his brief, our client's wife contacted her boyfriend and concubine via ASP Ejiofor of D16 SCID, Panti, Yaba, Lagos State, who helped transfer the case against our client from the Ikeja Police Station to the SCIID Panti, Yaba on fabricated charges. This occurred sometime in the last week of April 2022.
"Ejiofor seized and took our client's unregistered Mercedes Benz GLK 2013 Model valued at N14,500,000.00, Nokia Lumia 900 N300,000, and passport before charging our client and the client's brother, Kaosisochukwu Okoloneli, in court. Additionally, Ejiofor asked that our client and his brother pay N1,000,000.00 as a bribe to avoid being accused and shown in court. Our client and his brother were charged with contempt of court and subsequently remanded to the Nigeria Correctional Center on the 20th of June 2022 and the 1st of August 2022, respectively, as a result of their refusal to comply with this mandate.
The case for which our client was brought before the court had nothing to do with the unregistered Mercedes Benz GLK, Nokia Lumia 900, or passport of our client; these items were not mentioned or named as exhibits and have been in ASP Ejiofor's possession ever since. Our legal and considered opinion is that ASP Ejiofor's actions and indiscretions toward our client are primarily an abuse of police authority brought on by his amorous and adulterous relationship with a suspect's wife and his use of his authority as a police officer to prey on a vulnerable married woman.
The forced seizure by ASP Ejiofor of our client's unregistered 2013 GLK Mercedes Benz, Nokia Lumia 900 Phone, and Passport without paperwork is, in our legal and considered judgment, theft, and criminal conversion. We strongly condemn ASP Ejiofor's illegal and animalistic behavior and demand that he be punished by the pertinent and current police force orders and criminal laws of Lagos State. With almost 18 years of attachment to the SCIID Panti, Yaba, ascending from a Corporal to a Two Star Officer as Assistant Superintendent of Police without any transfers or redeployments to other police formations, ASP Ejiofor has become a demigod at D16 State SCIID Panti, Yaba, Lagos State.
This has given ASP Ejiofor the confidence to mistreat and violate the Fundamental Human Rights of suspects in his care or those he is looking into, as evidenced by the physical mistreatment and manhandling of our client while in his custody. In the interest of justice, we sincerely requested that an inquiry into this incident and the vile and illegal activities of ASP Ejiofor toward our client and his brother be opened. According to reports, Ejiofor had been advised by several senior police officers to drop the investigation since it included a marital conflict and should be resolved through alternative dispute resolution, but he had resisted their advice.
It was also said that when Ejiofor charged the case in court, the Magistrate dismissed it, saying that the case should not have been filed and that the pair should instead seek alternative dispute resolution. On the subject, Benjamin Hundeyin, a spokesman for the Lagos State Police Command, was called. As of the time of publication, Superintendent of Police Hundeyin has not yet addressed the accusations made against Ejiofor.
