Adeyanju says police arrest of Portable unlawful in a civil matter of debt recovery

Adeyanju says police arrest of Portable unconstitutional

By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor

Activist Deji Adeyanju – who recently graduated law school and is now a human rights lawyer, working pro bono – has strongly criticised the police for arresting musician Portable (Habeeb Okikiola) over alleged default payment for his car, arguing it is a civil matter which does not concern the police who are supposed to have their plate full with unresolved criminal cases.

Lagos police arrested Portable on Tuesday for allegedly refusing to pay the balance of N14 million on his Mercedes Benz G-Wagon worth N27 after paying an initial N13 million to the dealer, Ogunsanwo Temitope (Temmy Autos).

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The dealer reported the guy to the police who arrested and locked him up until he was able to perfect bail conditions on Wednesday evening.

A video of his arrest later emerged on social media showing policemen forcefully taking him away from the Abule Egba area of Lagos, a humiliation Adeyanju faulted as unnecessary because the job of the police and other security agencies does not involve debt recovery.

“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,” Adeyanju said in a statement.

“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.

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“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.”