An unnamed Ogun Task Force Official has been arrested after allegedly assaulting a woman who is a resident of the state.
The Transition Chairman of Ifo LGA, Fola Salami, made this known while announcing the commencement of an investigation as well as the arrest of an unnamed COVID-19 task force officer of the Ojodu Abiodun Local Council Development Authority of the Ifo Local Government Area of Ogun State.
This was after a lady, known as Tolu Adesh, narrated her ordeal in the hands of the officers on Twitter.
Mr Salami said he was shocked at the inhumane treatment Tolu received and the way the officers handled the situation.
He said that he is suspending all the officers involved without pay and that as at the time of the press release the chief offender had been arrested. He also added that all hands are on deck in ensuring that justice is served.
Ogun Task Force
Tolu Adesh narrated how the task force officers tried to extort money from her and her husband for violating the lockdown order in Ogun state.
She explained that she was on her way to buy a bicycle for her child in a supermarket located at an intersection between Lagos and Ogun when the officers accosted her.
In a Twitter thread made by Tolu Adesh, she wrote,
“We were stopped at the intersection between Lagos and Ogun states (which isn’t properly marked) by Ogun State task force officials, who informed us that there was total lockdown in Ogun State during weekends and since we were in their territory, we had to get a pass from their local government office, which is about three minutes away.”
She added that her husband’s ID card was siezed and the officers got upset when they refused driving with them as precautions against contracting COVID-19.
When they arrived the station, they were handed over to the councilman who then asked them to pay the fine of N15, 000 for disregarding the lockdown.
They tried to explain that they didn’t know they were in Ogun state as the area was a shared boundary but the pleas fell on deaf ears. It was at that point Tolu decided to record the incident.
She added that when she asked for the name of the council and when the leader of the task force noticed she was filming, he punched her phone away but she continued filming. In the footage she asked,
“Nigerians do you see him beating me? Show me your face. Domestic violence. Where are you running to? Why are you hiding?”
After sharing her experience, other twitter users also came on boards to share stories of how they had been extorted by the same team. Some adviced the Ogun state government to put barricades to notify people that they were entering new territory.
Another citizen , Enijesiku Sanya Nee, talk about his experience with the task force.
He shared how the officers met him at Ojodu Berger, jumped into his car and drove him to their office. Sanya said that before they got to the station, the officers had succeeded in taking the N8, 000 he had in his car and even transfered N12, 000 at the station before letting him go.
Another twitter user, Temitope Jalekun, shared his sister-in-law’s story adding that they had been extorting atleast N15, 000 from unsuspecting victims for about two months.
The Ogun State Government assured the citizens that investigations will be carried out and the culprits brought to book.
