I was dragged on the floor after asking SARS men for my arrested son – Widow paralysed by stroke after police brutality

It was a plaintive call at noon on Friday. The caller was 13-year-old David Adeojo. The voice was clearly of a young boy in distress. When he narrated the reason for his calling, it was apparent the boy wanted help; someone to intervene in the case of his grandmother languishing at the medical emergency ward of the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital.

“My grandmother and I went to SARS (State Anti-Robbery Squad) yesterday (Thursday) because she was afraid they had killed my uncle who was arrested four months ago. They shouted at her and dragged her out. But later that day, she slumped and became paralysed,” the boy said on the phone.

Our correspondent visited the ward where 55-year-old widow and evangelist, Bose Bajulaye, was receiving drip at LASUTH soon after, and her physical condition told a lot about the suffering the woman was going through.

Her physical appearance looked like that of a 90-year-old woman even though she is just 55.

She rambled; unable to focus on who it was that had entered the ward. An activist, Mr. Darlington Ajitemisa, whom she had initially contacted when the issue of his “missing-in-custody” son came up, took a moment to rouse her.

When Bajulaye eventually resettled to explain her plight, each word came out of her mouth with tremendous effort and pain.

“Four months ago, my son was arrested and taken to the Ojodu Police Division, Lagos on the allegation that he stole a tricycle and sold it,” she began.

Each sentence took minutes for the ailing woman to complete as she narrated events leading to her present state to this correspondent but she eventually explained that her son, 33-year-old Joseph, indeed stole the tricycle.

“I was told that he had struck up a short friendship with the owner of the tricycle. But on that particular day, four months ago, the man said my son was to help him to go and purchase noodles. But in the process, my son took his tricycle away.

“My son is very rascally but he had never stolen before. So, it was strange to me. I thought the man was just lying. But when I confronted my son, he said he indeed stole the tricycle. I slapped him and asked what he did with it. He said he sold it for N150,000 and used the money to rent an apartment. But the complainant said he bought the tricycle for N410,000

“I begged the police and the complainant to allow me to pay back the money monthly but the owner of the tricycle disagreed. He said he wanted his money once. I had to visit the apartment which my son rented in Igando area of Lagos.”

Bajulaye, who said she was a caterer until she stopped working and chose to preach the gospel three years ago, met with the estate agent from whom his son rented the apartment.

According to her, the agent confirmed that his son paid N150,000. She said he was sympathetic and promised to return the money as soon as he was able to rent out the apartment to another accommodation seeker.

The widow said, “I went back to the Ojodu Police Division not long after that and they told me that the complainant had reported at SARS headquarters in Ikeja and that the officers from there had taken my son.

“I went to the SARS office and I was warned never to come back and look for him. How would I not look for my son even if he stole something. I begged them but they ordered me out.

“I contacted a lawyer for help but I noticed shortly after that the lawyer refused to pick my call again. I contacted another lawyer but the lawyer too said he could no longer handle the case because SARS men threatened him.

“I went to the agent for the refund but he said SARS men had come to collect N160,000 from him. He said he added N10,000 to the N150,000, which he gave to them. But when I went to the SARS office, I was told never to return there. I asked for my son and nobody gave any answer. That was few weeks ago.”

She said a lawyer who is currently handling her case could not confirm if her son was still alive or not.

Bajulaye said when she went to SARS again on Thursday, two officers named Idoko and Baba Ngana, who were aware of the case, threatened her and asked some policemen to drag her on the floor out of the premises.

She was in pain after her treatment at the hand of the SARS men. But the widow was desperate. She had not seen her son since he was reportedly taken to SARS four months ago.

“I feared he might have been killed,” she said.

Ajitemisa (activist) later advised her to report the case to the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Umar Manko.

When she got to the police headquarters in Ikeja, a police officer followed her to the SARS office. She said Idoko and Baba Ngana were furious at her. They asked her to stay outside as the policewoman from the headquarters sort out the issue.

But while she stood outside, she slumped.

Her 13-year-old grandson, who called this correspondent, narrated the incident.

 “While we were standing outside, mama said she was becoming very tired and could not see properly. She then sat on the floor. But as she sat she fainted. Some people poured water on her but when she woke up, she could no longer stand on her own and some policemen took her to LASUTH,” he said.

At the moment, Bajulaye has no money for treatment as the policemen who dropped her off at the hospital made no provision for her treatment.

“Idoko was one of the people who brought me here. But he lied to the nurses that I only came to SARS to report a case and slumped in the process,” she told Saturday PUNCH.

A nurse, who was sympathetic about Bajulaye’s case was blunt when she explained that there was no way Bajulaye could be given proper treatment apart from the drip she was on because there was no money.

“She has partial stroke and her blood pressure is alarmingly high,” the nurse, who did not want to be named, said.

The reality is grim for Bajulaye. She has a stroke with no medication coupled with the psychological torment that her only son could be dead without any explanation.

But questions persist; like what has happened to Bajulaye’s son? But the SARS commandant in the state, Mr. Abba Kyari, could not be reached on Friday  as a call placed to his mobile phone indicated his line was not available.

However, after this correspondent spoke with the police spokersperson, Ngozi Braide, she contacted the officer in charge, SARS. She was to later relate the report she got from the O/C SARS.

“The version I got from SARS is different from what the woman told you totally. What I was told was that she was accompanied to SARS by the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Administration. but after a thorough check, there was no record that the son was ever brought there. I was told she fainted after receiving the news and the police took her to the hospital,” Braide said.

She explained that Bajulaye could not have been brutalised as she claimed “since she committed no crime.”

“If she needs help, she can come to me to see how we can help about her case,” Braide said.

Ajitemisa, however, expressed reservation about the whereabouts of Joseph. The activist said there was no indication yet that Bajulaye’s son had been killed or not.

“The police should expect a massive demonstration from concerned people of the state if they do not produce the young man. Killing of suspects is a massive issue with SARS,” he said.