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Man demands N50m compensation for unlawful arrest, parade by police in Edo

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A 47-year-old man, Anthony Ogbevon, on Friday, approached the Edo State Judicial Panel of Inquiry and demanded a N50 million compensation for alleged unlawful arrest and parade by police in the state.

Ogbevon alleged that he was wrongly paraded as a criminal suspect by the police on June 8, 2020.

The petitioner told the panel he was arrested and dragged to the police station by some vigilante group for alleged kidnapping because he refused to grant their request.

He said the police refused to investigate the allegation, but arrested, detained, and paraded him alongside other criminal suspects.

Ogbevon added that his vehicle was impounded by the police.

He said: “It was a case of unlawful seizure of my vehicle. After the arrest, the police did not wait to investigate before they paraded me as a kidnapper and an armed robber.

“I was arrested on Sunday, June 7, 2020. On Monday, June 8, I was one of those paraded at the police headquarters as an armed robber and a kidnapper. After that, I was thrown back into the cell.

“On Tuesday, after some hours, they took my statement before going to the scene of the crime in Idu village at Upper Sakponba, in Ikpoba-Okha local government area of the state.

“At the end of the day, the recommendation of the Investigating Police Officer (IPO) clearly vindicated me that I was accused falsely by the so-called vigilante in that village. This is because I was going to my own village to see my aged mother and my farm.

READ ALSO: Police tortured me, alleged I was gay, victim tells Edo judicial panel

“They begged me to help them take kidnapped victims to Benin which I refused because I was going to my village.

“When I was coming back, I picked a teacher in my village and seven seasonal Hausa farmers.

“When I got back to Idu village, the same vigilante said I disobeyed their chairman. Consequently, they started beating me, dragged me out, collected my N12,500 and said I was carrying kidnappers.

“They dragged my passengers out and started beating them, except the teacher.

“At the end of the day, they called the police that they have arrested armed robbers and kidnappers. We were at the police headquarters until 7:00 p.m.

“The IPO, after his investigation, said I was falsely accused because of malice and that I should be considered for bail.

“They charged me to court and I was taken to court along with others in my car on June 18, 2020. I remained in the Correctional Centre until the DPP advice came that I had no case to answer.

“When I came out, I demanded my vehicle. They refused to give it to me, saying the court didn’t order that it should be released.”

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