How Policemen 'abducted' children over their father's alleged crime

According to PM News, the children were taken by the officers on Wednesday, March 9, in Satellite town area of the state, to draw out their father, Mustard Ramadan, who is allegedly a criminal.

The police invaded Ramadan's residence to arrest him but he was nowhere to be found, hence they took his children away, believing that would compel him to show up to answer for a an alleged crime he committed.

The accused has however petitioned the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni, through his lawyer, Adeyemi Olatunji, asking for the release of his innocent children who are supposed to be in school.

READ: Gunmen abduct 3 female students in Lagos school

In the petition, Olatunji explained that the policemen from D9 in Panti stormed Ramadan's house in the early hours today at about 4.30am, waking up the neighbourhood, and women who were barely dressed.

“Our client’s wife quickly placed a call to her husband who requested to speak with the policemen. Our client spoke to one of the policemen who refused to give his name but only demanded that our client produce himself at their office by 9am. Our client told him that from where he was he would not be able to get to Panti at 9am but that he would get there around 11am," the lawyer said.

“Our client who believed he had secured the understanding of officers was distraught when his wife told him the men left with the two children. The men did not leave any letter of invitation or any official document beyond the verbal message.

“Our client who is into the business of transportation and equipment leasing informed us that sometimes in late February 2016 a legal practitioner whom he only knows as Barrister Dele approached him to lease his caterpillar for a demolition job. Our client informed us that he told the lawyer that he would not release his equipment for such job unless there was guarantee that the job was legal and that there would be adequate security for his men and equipment.

“The lawyer assured him there was a court order and that there would be police security with court baliffs in attendance. True to his word, the next day the lawyer came in a bus with four armed mobile policemen and some court officials. It was only then that our client released his caterpillar with an operator to go and do the job somewhere in satellite town.

“According to our client, the operator told him that when they got to the site he could not do the demolition because the owner of the building came out to stop them and the lawyer agreed that they were going to negotiate. The operator left the scene with the catapillar and our client was paid.He said he was called again two weeks later to come and do demolition and he told them to fulfil the last condition which they met.

“When they got to the site there were people around so he could not carry out the demolition again, he was only able to tap a portion of the roof of the house before they all left the scene. To our client’s surprise, somebody informed him that the lawyer had been arrested about a week ago and just two days ago his operator was also arrested. So, our client firmly beliefs the abduction of his children has to do with the demolition work," he stated.

Olatunji noted that Ramadan was going to honour police investigation before his house was stormed and children taken away.