I am a teacher - Man mistaken for Badoo gang member cries out

Aunde T. Emmanuel (eaundeblog)

It is no longer news that on Saturday, July 1, about 100 persons was arrested in Ikorodu, Lagos as members of the dreaded Badoo gang. As a result of this raid a lot of innocent persons were also arrested. Such was the case of Okewunmi Omotoyosi Daniel who was arrested with other suspected members of the notorious group by the Nigerian police and Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC). Speaking with Vanguard Newspaper Daniel disclosed that around 2pm on the day he was arrested he had stepped out with his wife and their nine-month-old baby to the salon located around Abuja bus/stop, Ikorodu when the community vigilante group came to raid the area.

He said: “At about 2p.m. on Saturday, I went in the company of my wife and our nine-month-old baby to a salon close to my house at Abuja Bus Stop, Ikorodu, to have a haircut. While waiting for my turn, our baby started crying and I took him to the section where my wife was also having her hair done. Later, we heard a word of command from the community vigilante known as Onyabo, ordering everyone to stand up. Members of the Onyabo said that our attention was needed by the Commissioner of Police outside. We were the first set of people arrested. Miscreants led the Police to where the raids were carried out. After the arrest, we were taken into the Black Maria without an opportunity to explain ourselves. The Onyabo members (community guards) even collected telephones of those arrested. They even chased people standing on their own at Owode Roundabout, Imota and Ita-Maga, and apprehended a man who was about entering a Mosque to pray. We were taken in a parked Black Maria to the Task Force office at Oshodi, where we were detained. That was where they started taking shots of us, as if we were Badoo members."

Daniel further disclosed that about 138 were arrested on that day that even the prison cells could not contain them. He added that if his wife had not brought his documents, he would still be in police custody. Narrating how he was released, Daniel said: “Next day (Sunday), my wife and my father came with all my documents that proved that I am a civil servant. In fact, I am a teacher at Oluwalogbon Primary School, Ketu. After showing them all my documents, they released me at about 11p.m. I have received several calls from friends and relatives, who saw my picture in the newspaper, asking what happened. I couldn’t go to work today. I only contacted the school to hint them of the development so I can come here and explain my side of the story, so that my image can be redeemed."

Source: Naij