IGP and Yinka Badmus. |
A
24-year-old photojournalist, Yinka Badmus, who works with Talk Village
International, is currently cooling off at Ikoyi Prisons because of his
hairstyle.
He
was reportedly arrested by policemen attached to the Lagos State Anti-Cultism
unit for wearing dreadlocks, which the officers allegedly said made him look
like a cultist.
It
was learned that Badmus was arrested on New Year eve, while eating noodles, at Pedro
Bus Stop, Gbagada.
Vanguard
gathered that after Badmus was detained, the policemen allegedly refused to
allow him to contact his relatives or friends.
Badmus
was able to send a message to his relatives on January 3, through a detainee,
who was granted bail.
The
detainee contacted Badmus’ relatives explaining to them that he had already
spent three days in detention, contravening the stipulated instruction that
every suspect must be charged within 24 hours.
Badmus’
relatives contacted his boss, Stephen Oguntoyibo, Chief Executive Officer of
Talk Village International, to help secure his bail.
It
was gathered that when Stephen Oguntoyibo went to bail Badmus at the station,
he was shocked to see the Police conveying him and other young men in a Black
Maria to Ogudu Magistrate’s Court, Lagos, where he was eventually arraigned and
remanded.
According
to Oguntoyibo, “at the Ogudu Magistrate’s Court, the resident judge asked that
Badmus be granted bail and a lawyer in the magistrate court was attached to us.
“The
lawyer subsequently requested for the following: means of ID proof, house rent
receipt, NEPA bill, company ID and tax payment receipts for two years.
“He
also received N10,000 and later the lawyer demanded another N20,000 for his
service, with a promise that he would have a meeting with the judge and,
thereby, effect Badmus’s release.
“On
Tuesday, I called the lawyer with the intention of submitting the requested
documents, so the boy can be released. The lawyer, again, demanded another
N25,000 for bail bond, and also made me know that I would have to pay police
for verification and other processes. Meanwhile, the boy has been remanded in
Ikoyi Prison.”
Oguntoyibo
disclosed that he had been inundated with phone calls from prison, alerting him
of Badmus’ deteriorating health.
National
Coordinator of the Network for Police Reforms in Nigeria, Okechukwu Nwanguma,
furious over the journalist’s continued incarceration, said: “The Police
officer was quoted as saying the guy was arrested because of his hairstyle.
“Where
in the law is a hairstyle a crime? And why did the Police officer go ahead to
charge him?
“Since
he was granted bail, why did the lawyer keep making financial demands from the
surety, including money for the Police to go and verify the surety’s residence?
Isn’t that unbecoming of a lawyer?
“The
innocent guy is languishing in prison, reported to be very sick, all because of
a lawyer’s greed.”
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