Police detained toddler, mother in a cell for 5 days over electrocution of man

Policemen in Nigeria have detained a 4 month old baby and her mother over the death of a man.

The Policemen at Igbogbo police station detained this woman and her baby after she came to the police station to report a case of a welder who died of electrocution in her shop.

It was gathered that the police at the Igbogbo police station Ikorodu allegedly detained the four months old baby boy and his mother identified as Idiat Ajisebutu 24 ,a hairdresser and mother of three after she went to the police station to report that a welder died from electrocution in her shop. 

Family of the embattled hairdresser claimed that the police at Igbogbo police station detained Idiat and her baby for five days in a police cell. 

Segun Ajisebutu, the husband of the detained woman and father to the detained toddler. He  narrated how his wife and baby were detained in the prison cell.

He said “ I received a call from my wife last week Monday April 4th that someone came to reconnect her electricity in her hairdressing shop but the man was electrocuted in the process of re-connecting the electrical line . 

She told me that one Mr. Emmanuel a welder who also has a shop in the area ordered that the electricity in her shop be disconnected because she was owing N2000 electricity bill.

She told me that she later paid N1000 and Mr. Emmanuel then ordered his apprentice , one Chris to go to my wife’s shop and reconnect her disconnected electric line. The apprentice Chris was reconnecting the electricity when suddenly, he was electrocuted.

My wife raised alarm and people in the area ran to her shop and saw the corpse. She was advised to report the electrocution to the police and she went to the Igbogbo police station at Ikorodu and reported the unfortunate. 

The police then took her statement and went ahead to detain her with our four months old baby boy. The police kept my wife and our four months old son in the cell for five days.

'Police at the Igbogbo police station on Saturday April 9th 2016 transferred my wife and baby to the State Criminal Investigation Department at Panti Yaba where she is still being held over the death she knows nothing about.'

'Efforts to get my wife and baby out proofs abortive. The family of the deceased came asking for 2 million Naira compensation if we want the case dropped.' where would we get 2 million from. ' 

The police at Igbogbo Division handed her over to officers at Homicide Unit Panti to be detained in their cell but when the officers at the Counter tried to take her baby from her, she wept that she should be released with her baby as she has nothing to do with the electrocution. She then said she was the one who reported the tragic incident to the police.

 "She was pleading and holding on to her baby, the policemen started beating her up. They slapped her and forcefully collected her baby and handed him over to my sister in-law to take the baby home”.

This is another case of police brutality in Nigeria. The Nigerian Police needs a total over haul. It needs to be reform and transformed.

A human rights activist Mr. Ishola Agbodimu the President of Rural Urban Development Initiative RUDI said the case will be reported to the National Human Rights Commission to wade into the arrest and detention of a toddler .

Please share this till it gets to the right authorities. This woman needs your help.