An Abuja-based legal practitioner and human rights activist, Deji Adeyanju, has berated operatives of the Lagos State Command of the Nigeria Police Force for allegedly humiliating a controversial singer, Habeeb Okikiola, popularly known as Portable, in a bid to arrest him over a civil matter.
we had earlier reported Portable’s arrest on Tuesday over a failed car purchase deal following his alleged refusal to pay the debt he incurred when he purchased a G-Wagon from a car dealer.
According to reports, Portable, during the purchase of the vehicle worth N27 million, paid only N13 million and had refused to pay the N14 million balance on the pretext that the car was faulty.
A video of Portable’s arrest later emerged on social media, showing policemen forcefully taking him away.
Responding to the development in a statement on Wednesday, Adeyanju said the Police and other security agencies were not debt recovery agencies, condemning the alleged humiliation of the singer by policemen.
“Our attention has been drawn to a video making the rounds on the internet where Nigerian singer, Mr. Habeeb Okikiola (AKA Portable) was seen being humiliated by persons suspected to be officers of the Nigerian Police Force, in an attempt to forcefully arrest him over a civil matter.
“The unnecessary show of force employed by the officers in the arrest of a non violent Nigerian citizen over a civil dispute, stands condemned. For the umpteenth time, it is necessary to state that security agencies, especially the Nigerian Police, are not debt recovery agencies and they have no role whatsoever to play in any alleged breach of contractual disputes.
“This point has been restated by the appellate courts on several occasions in cases like NA ALLAH v KOFAR KADE (NIG) LTD (2020) LPELR-49596 (CA), Okafor & Anor v AIG Police Zone II Onikan & Ors (2019) LPELR – 46505 (CA), etc.
“The Nigerian Police must return to its constitutional mandate and resist the urge to dabble into all manner of civil disputes, while more pressing crimes go uninvestigated,” Adeyanju stated.
