PRNigeria Publisher Petitions IG Over Police Harassment Of Family

Police Harassment, Intimidation of Family, PRNigeria Publisher Petitions IGP

BY AMOS DUNIA, ABUJA – Following the harassment and intimidation of his family members in Abuja, by a team of Policemen and woman from Lagos, the Publisher of PRNigeria, Yushau Shuaib has petitioned the Inspector General of Police(IGP) Mr. Ibrahim Idris over what he described as the Gestapo style his family members were subjected to.
In a 30-paragraph letter dated September 11, 2017, and addressed to the IGP, Shuaib said the police team from Lagos claimed that Governor Ambode of Lagos State was aware of an alleged massive fraud committed in Lagos involving his Son, Gidado Shuaib.

He further said that the police team, led by one Inspector Babatunde with telephone numbers 08056506863 and 08081700099, claimed to have come from the Office of the Lagos state Governor, initially told his (Shuaib) wife through telephone that they were from an MTN Team to deliver a seasonal gift to her.
Shuaib said the phone call conversation raised suspicions from his wife which made her to raise alarm with the suspicion that it could be a kidnap gang which attracted nearby residents to come to her rescue.

Shuaib further said that he also resisted the attempt to be taken to Lagos by the police team for questioning, since he was not the suspect, adding that his position was equally supported by the Divisional Police Officer, Wuye-Abuja Police station, CSP Solome Hardy (Mrs), who categorically told them that she would not allow them to take him to Lagos since he was not the suspect of their investigation.

Shuaib in the petition to the IGP is therefore demanding the reason and justification for the harassment of himself and his wife, who he stressed has been traumatized since then and now undergoing medication and counselling.
According to him; “The ridiculous treatment of myself and my wife with the detention in Wuye Police Station before our eventual release is not only appalling and scandalous but a calculated attempt to rubbish our hard-earned reputation, having used the last five years protecting and promoting the activities of security agencies in Nigeria.

“In fact, through PRNigeria Platform alone, we have syndicated and published over 300 official Press Releases from the Police in the last two years of the current administration as part of our social responsibility to our fatherland.

“While we have been threatened by terrorists and their sympathisers in the cause of our services, it is rather unfortunate that the police are now our tormentors.

“My fear, currently is not about me, my family or my son, who will surely confront the Police with his lawyers over the reckless allegation on his return. My fear is, what may be happening to other ordinary Nigerians who do not have people in police or security agencies to put words on their behalf?

“Only God knows how many lives could have been lost with the kind of recklessness exhibited by the Lagos Police Team that engages in the gestapo-like operation of picking up people without providing the information on their alleged offences,” Shuaib stressed.
The Publisher urged the IGP to provide clear information of the alleged offences purportedly committed by his son and to direct Inspector Babatunde (08056506863, 08081700099) to stop threatening his family members with phone calls insisting they must be in Lagos in the absence of their son.
Shuaib demanded the police to tender an unreserved apology for treating his family like a common criminal without adequate proof of the allegations, adding that his ordeal contravenes provision of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015 which prohibits the arrest of another person in place of a suspect.
He also noted the unprofessional and questionable manner of the Lagos Police Team thus urged the Inspector General of Police to transfer the case to any of the Special Investigation Units in the Force Headquarters or to the FCT Police Command

Shuaib said that with his strict monitoring and parental guidance over his children, he is prepared to be held liable if his son is found guilty of the alleged offence, saying; “I am not only a guardian but a father in every sense of the word.”