By Dare Olawin
There have been series of complaints about the activities of the new Divisional Police Officer of Sagamu, Mr John Mark. Youths of Sagamu have taken the opportunity of the social media to pass massages of what they thought the DPO is doing wrong to the world.
Some of the many allegations against the DPO include illegal arrest, illegal detention, extortion, refusal to charge cases to court among others.
It was learnt from the youths that the DPO would go to town and arrest innocent people who would be made to pay N10,000 or more before they could be released. They informed that anybody who refused to pay the amount demanded would be kept in the custody for as long as the money would be paid.
They said it was now an offence to attend social gatherings, sit at a restaurant or football viewing centres in Sagamu as the DPO would mobilize his boys to arrest anybody found there and get them released by paying money.
One Asiwaju Niyi Awoyemi said “He took me to Alalgbon without any reason, John Mark, Sagamu DPO must go.”
Also, a native of Makun, Rabiu Adeyinka, accused the DPO of collecting N20,000 from him on a Sunday afternoon for bail without committing any offence. He informed that the DPO had no respect for anybody, including the Obas in Sagamu.
Village News gathered that Mr Mark had insulted an Oba who had gone to his office to get his arrested wife released. The Oba (name withheld) was said to have been sent out of the DPO’s office when he was not ready to pay the N10,500 demanded.
The Oba’s wife was later released after the payment of the money. She was said to have fallen sick after her release from the cell.
A writer, Bayodele Kolawole Plato reported that a woman selling beer had been arrested at Adegorunse, Offin Sagamu. He said the woman was released after a sum of N20,000 was paid to the DPO.
“On a Friday evening, at Isote Makun Sagamu, a man was eating in front of his house while he was arrested right there on the instruction of the DPO. The said man was released on bail with a lot of pleadings. Until the man’s wife spoke her local Kogi dialect before the man was charged N10,500 to secure his bail. There must be a stop to this illegal extortion.” He said.
On February 23, the Ogun State House of Assembly, through the Speaker, Hon. Suraj Adekunbi, ordered the immediate probe of the DPO, Sagamu Division, when the issue was brought before it by the House Majority Leader, Hon. Yinka Mafe.
Adekunbi asked the state Commissioner of Police, Abdulmajid Ali, to investigate the matter in order to prevent a breakdown of law and order.
Reacting to the story, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, said the command was not aware of any complaint against the Sagamu DPO, arguing that Mark remained the best Divisional Officer in the state.
He said if the allegation was coming from another person or group of persons from Sagamu, the command would have taken it seriously, and not when it was coming from Hon. Mafe.
Adejobi said that the command was investigating 15 criminal cases allegedly involving Mafe who represents Sagamu I state constituency.
He told newsmen that the lawmaker might be arrested and prosecuted after the completion of the investigation.
The PPRO said the majority leader has no moral justification to level such allegation against the command, saying, he was being investigated for criminal activities.
He said, “The allegation is unknown to the command, because the DPO; CSP Mark is one of the best Divisional Police Officers in this command. He was actually posted to Sagamu to uproot the evil and the evil doers in Sagamu. It takes a tough man to control security arrangement in Sagamu.
“He is there doing what he should do and we expect people to make noise especially criminals and sponsors of criminals concerning what the DPO is doing because he is there doing what he should do.
“If the allegation had come from another person who has clean hands, the matter would have been taken more seriously by the command, but, we are surprised, this is coming from Hon Mafe who is also one of the suspects we are investigating in many criminal cases in Sagamu; talking about sponsorship of cultism and many other criminal activities, he doesn’t have the moral justification to raise such an allegation against the Sagamu DPO and he should not personalise issues like this.
“We want to say, without mincing words that the allegations are baseless. We have 15 criminal cases against this person, all I know is that by the time we finish the investigations against him we are going to address the press.
But Hon. Mafe in his reactions accused the state police command of trying to blackmail him with false allegations.
The lawmaker dared the police on Sunday, saying he was ready for prosecution but alleged that he was being blackmailed for raising corruption allegations against Mr Mark, saying, he has about 50 petitions against him.
“I don’t want to sound like I alleged the DPO (did something wrong),” he said. “I have in my possession series of petitions from victims of extortion, criminal extortions I called them, because these are innocent people that would be arrested unlawfully and money would be demanded from them and until they pay those monies they wouldn’t be allowed to go home.”
He also hinted that the Assembly might summon the Ogun Commissioner of Police, Abdulmajid Ali, and Mr. Adejobi on the alleged criminal cases against him.
The majority leader queried the police command for waiting until he accused a senior police officer before it came up with allegations against him.
“It baffles me that the PPRO and CP himself will wait until now that I am accusing one of the unprofessional policemen that I have ever met in my life, CSP John Mark, before coming out with this allegation of 15 criminal cases they claimed to be investigating.
“I want to urge and challenge them to speed up the investigation, so that they can take me to court. I am a lawyer and I am ready to meet them in court.
“As I speak, we have over 50 petitions and these people are ready to come out. In fact the Honourable from Sagamu constituency II was informing the Speaker that the DPO has a PoS machine with which he collects bribe and I am putting this on record quoting Hon. Soyebo because he’s from Sagamu as myself and I think that is grievous.”
The lawmaker expressed dismay that the Ogun Police, (whose leadership include the Commissioner of Police and the Public Relations Officer), who were at his (Mr. Mafe’s) birthday celebration a fortnight ago would associate with someone being investigated for criminal activities.
Meanwhile, residents of Sagamu on Monday February 29, protested alleged unlawful arrest and corruption against the said DPO, John Mark.
They also appealed to the Inspector General of Police, Mr Solomon Arase, to redeploy the Chief Superintendent of Police who had turned them to “Automated Teller Machines.”
The protesters came with placards with various inscriptions such as ‘The gods of Sagamu reject John Mark’, ‘Sagamites unite against Police extortion’, ‘Bail is free, but Sagamites are tired of John Mark extortion’, among others.
One of the protesters, Mr Moses Bamgbelu, said the DPO had at various times arrested members of the community unlawfully.
He said, “I came back into the country last year, and I met my people agitating about what the DPO in Sagamu has been doing; extorting money illegally from our people and refusal to charge matters that supposed to go to court to court.”
In its response to the yearnings and petition of Hon. Mafe and the Sagamu protesters, The Ogun State Police Command on Tuesday, March 1, redeployed the embattled Divisional Police Officer, John Mark, to the command’s headquarters, Eleweran, Abeokuta, and put in place a six-member committee to investigate allegations of extortion against him.
In a statement, the Ogun Police Public Relations Officer, Muyiwa Adejobi, said DPO Mark had been redeployed to allow “smooth” investigations to be carried out.
“The Commissioner of Police Ogun State, Abdulmajid Ali, has ordered immediate redeployment of the embattled Divisional Police Officer Sagamu Division, CSP John Mark, to the Command Headquarters, Eleweran Abeokuta,” the statement reads.
“The Commissioner has constituted a powerful six-man committee, led by the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Department of Finance & Administration and 2i/c Command DCP Celestine Okoye, to investigate the allegations against the DPO and the concerned Hon member of Ogun State House of Assembly, Hon. Yinka Mafe, and forward its report within one week from date.
“The Committee is expected to carefully X-ray the remote and immediate cause of the brouhaha vis-a-visa allegations and counter allegations in the said matter so as to set the record straight.
“The Commissioner therefore wishes to assure the general public that the Command will not tolerate any act of corruption or unprofessionalism or/and inappropriate behaviour that can damage the image and reputation of the Force.” the release explained.
Source: The Village News
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