Emmanuel Macaulay, who resides at the Police Officers'
Quarters in Ikeja, Lagos State, says his landlady, a female deputy
superintendent of police, ordered his eviction and brutalisation.
Mr Macaulay petitioned the Commissioner of Police, Marvel Akpoyibo, over the issue. He said that in the morning of November 22, 2010, his landlady, Ngozi Judea, said to be serving at the Force Headquarters Annex in Obalende, came with thugs who she ordered to forcefully evict him from the one room he had rented from her since July 2009. "It was early in the morning at about 7am when she came with three guys," he said. "She used teargas on me. They beat me up, threw my things outside and threw me down the stair case. I was only in boxers (shorts) when one Okada man pitied me and took me to the police state command before I went for treatment at Plato Hospital, located at PWD Bus Stop in Ikeja. I was burning. My body was red as a result of the tear gas."
Mr Macaulay, who is a businessman and student at the University of Lagos, said in the course of the alleged brutality, he lost his Blackberry and Nokia mobile phones and the sum of N820,000 belonging to a client who had paid him for the purchase of a car. "Sir, please I want you to use your good office to look into this matter and ensure justice for the voiceless like me and help recover my stolen properties and money," read the letter which was acknowledged by the commissioner of police on the same day..
How it all began
According to Mr Macaulay, in June 2009 he met one Mama Ada, also resident in the same police quarters located along Oba Ladejobi Street. She acted as the agent who introduced him to Ms Judea. One month later, in the presence of his sister, Hope Macaulay, who was then five months pregnant, and Mama Ada, he said he handed Ms Judea N150,000 as two years rent payment for a one room in her boy's quarters; with his tenancy to elapse July 2011. He said six months into his tenancy, Ms Judea first expressed her disapproval over his fraternity with other residents of the police quarters. This later degenerated to her cutting his power supply when she asked him to pay exorbitant electricity fees. "Look at the wire which supplies me electricity from her house in front," he said. "She cut it just to ensure she frustrates me to leave before my rent expires. When she saw I connected my light from another tenant, she later called me one day on the phone and told me she wants me to pack from the BQ. She never even suggested wanting to refund my money. I don't know why but I suspect she wants to give the place to one man that has come here several times."
Never ending investigations
At the Police Provost Unit of the Lagos State Police Command, where Mr Akpoyibo referred the case to, it was discovered that all parties were invited in view of resolving the problem. An officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said M. Judea has not being cooperative with the case. "We investigated and we discovered she was at fault," he said. "But she is well connected and there are people who are covering her. But we've done our own and that is why we came and ordered he (Mr Macaulay) should move back in."
Subsequently, officers from the unit packed Mr Macaulay's property back into the house, and asked Ms Judea to refrain from further victimisation. The state police spokesperson, Frank Mba, said from his enquiry, Ms Judea did not collect any money from Mr Macaulay. "The matter is being investigated," he said. "But the lady in question says she gave him the place purely on humanitarian grounds. As regards the claims he was beaten, you can't see one sign of any injury. I mean if you see someone beaten, you will know. We should not allow ourselves to be used for blackmail."
But Mr Macaulay says he is bewildered and scared. "Why would she give me a place for free?," he said. "We are not family. There is nothing connecting us, except the money I gave her. Right now I am living here in fear. I am telling my story should anything happen to me so that the world knows."
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