SARS operatives allegedly torture, break innocent Taxify driver’s finger

Operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad of the Lagos State Police Command have been accused by a Taxify driver, John Otuechere, of wrongful arrest and torture.

The driver, who demanded justice for the violation of his rights, said that he was arrested, detained and tortured for allegedly stealing the bag of one Mrs Alice Isah.

It was gathered that Isah who came back into the country from training in Dubai on Sunday, July 15, had called the Taxify driver to pick her up from the Murtala Muhammed International Airport and drop her off at her residence on Lekki Gardens Estate, Lagos State.

Otuechere said his car developed fault on the way and after fixing the car with the assistance of a roadside help, they had no other stopover till they got to Isah’s residence where they brought down her luggage. He said the passenger, at this point, discovered that one of her bags had gone missing.

Otuechere said he suggested taking her back to the airport to check whether she forgot the bag, adding that instead, Isah accused him of conniving with the mechanic to steal her bag.

“She held me and started slapping me, calling me a thief. One of her neighbours and the estate’s chief security officer accompanied her, and I was taken to the Ogombo Police Station.

“The second day, when the policeman who investigated the case suggested that we searched for the bag at my house and the airport, she said he was supporting me and she petitioned the state police command and the case was transferred to Ikeja.

“Immediately I got to SARS in Ikeja, a policeman, identified as Omoleme, hit me many times with an iron bar to make me confess in the presence of the woman. He said he would kill me and nothing would happen. I was in tears because of the pain; my blood was all over the floor and I was told to pull off my dress and start cleaning it.

“I was taken to the man in charge of SARS; when I tried to explain to him that I was innocent, he ordered his men to hang me because I was not saying the truth.

“SARS cell is a graphic picture of hell; I saw over 70 people inside one room and immediately I entered, I was welcomed with several blows, slaps and kicks.”

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The Abia State indigene said it took the intervention of his lawyer before the SARS operatives agreed to search for the bag at the airport.

He added that the bag was eventually found and recovered at the airport where the woman forgot it.

Otuechere, whose two fingers had been broken during the torture, said he wanted justice and compensation for being humiliated and tortured for a crime he did not commit.

He said, “When my lawyer saw my condition, she was annoyed with the officers for torturing me without investigation. She insisted that they should search for the bag at the airport; so a policeman went with my sister. I was told that the bag was found at the airport.”