Thread by @MalachyOdo1

I promised to do a thread of some prominent cases I've handled against the Nigerian Police and why I now believe there is no hope for this country with the kind of Police Force we have.

5 of such cases easily come to my mind & I shall drop them for the next 5 days.

Thread

In August , 2016 one Miss Mabel Mang (May her soul rest in peace) was murdered in her Lekki home. She was single, rich and had no child.

The gateman who was the main suspect fled and made away with her phones, laptops and jewelleries.

Her elder brother who lives in Ikeja and is our Client was contacted by some of the late sister's neighbors and he rushed down to Lekki only to see the sister very dead with a kitchen knife stuck in her belly.

She was apparently killed a night before.

Our Client immediately contacted the Police and the body was moved away and investigations commenced.

An autopsy was conducted on the body.

Our Client who is the only family member of the deceased in Lagos provided all that was needed by the Police to track the suspect...

Who was the gateman and who has since disappeared. The said gateman was recently employed by the deceased and haven't worked with her for up to one month before the gruesome murder.

The suspect was tracked down some weeks later in a village in Taraba State and brought back...

to Lagos for prosection.

He confessed to killing his boss and employer and blamed it on the good old devil.

He demonstrated how he killed her at night with a knife and how he tried cleaning up the blood before packing his things and taking off to Taraba that same night.

He was arraigned for the murder of the Late Miss Mang before the Magistrate court pending DPP's Advice and he was subsequently remanded in Prison custody.

Our Client and family were gradually finding closure and planning on the burial of their sister... Or so they thought

One of our Client's younger sisters and infact the immediate younger sister to the deceased (our Client is the 2nd son and their elder brother) suddenly returned from South Korea where she has been living for over 25years and said that it was our Client who infact...

killed their sister!

She was not on talking terms with the deceased or even our Clients and never showed up for their Father's burial some years ago.

She however was serious with her allegations & wrote a Petition to the Police Headquarters, Abuja and investigations restarted

Abuja directed that the State CID, Panti should reopen the case and investigate our Client. Remember that the suspect had confessed and had been charged to court.

The Police visited the suspect in Prison and he insisted that he committed the murder alone and had never...

Seen or met our Client prior to his arrest.

Our Client's sister kept screaming at him to shut up and that it was our Client who told him to murder their late sister! The gateman, said he would not lie against our Client as a Muslim and that he should he left to bear his cross

From Panti, our Client was transferred to Federal SARS, Adeniji Adele where he was detained for over 2weeks.

I met the then Deputy Commissioner there more than once & he said he was simply following directives from Abuja and that he could not release our Client on bail.

Meanwhile, their late sister had not been buried and the Police and the returnee sister went to the morgue and demanded that the body be released to them.

The morgue attendants refused because they were not the ones who deposited the body.

They created a scene there and left

On the next date in court when the suspect appeared to know the report of the DPP Advise, the police confronted the Prison warders & said they have an order from the IG to bring the suspect to Abuja!

The Prison officers had to shoot into the air before the Police officers left

The DPP Advice stated that the suspect be arraigned at High Court, Igbosere for the murder of our Client's sister.

Also, the Igwe of our Client's town in Abia State and some other prominent people tried intervening in the matter and to make the returnee sister withdraw...

her spurious and baseless petition and allegation but she refused. She boasted to have spent over 9Million at the Police Headquarters and there was no going back until our Client, her elder brother is in jail.

Our Client was transferred from FSARS, Lagos to Police HQ, Abuja

Our office had filed a case against the Police and the returnee sister and they were ordered to come to court and show cause why the court should not grant our claims.

The Police came to court and said they have reasons to believe that our Client killed his sister!

They were asked to present these reasons and evidence suggesting same and they said they were still working on it. Lol

Meanwhile, the Police and the returnee sister had gone to the deceased's home and offices and carted away documents and valuables. They also went to our ...

Client's home and harrased the wife and children under the guise of conducting a search.

Our Client was brought back to Lagos after about 2weeks in Abuja and then arraigned in court for the murder of his beloved sister!

He was remanded in prison pending DPP Advice

Luckily, the office of the AG, Lagos released the Legal Advise within 3days which exonerated our Client and stated that there was no basis or fact to support the spurious charge.

The returnee sister was simply using the Police to settle personal scores & her agenda was clear..

To put away her brother in Prison so she can have free hand to as she pleases with their late sister's Estate and properties.

Our Client was released from Prison and we went after the returnee sister and the Police with court actions.

Monetary damages we're awarded...

against them and she ran back to where she came from.

The Police officers who were active participants in her game apologized later claiming they were simply following orders!

That was how our Client would have gone under for something he knew nothing about.

The suspect is now a life resident of Kirikiri Prison and our Client and his family will never forget the ordeal nor fge the role of the Nigerian Police in a hurry.

Our Police is at the disposal of the highest bidder and the rot is deeper than we realize.

Day 2

Please come with me.

Our Client, a 70 year old man, has a small duplex around Ikeja axis of Lagos State with a boys squatters.

He lives alone with a house maid in the duplex (his wife lives abroad) while he rented the boy's squatters to a young man who moved into the apartment in February 2017.

One day in March 2017, the house maid called our Client who was not at home at the time that she was perceiving a strong odour/smell in the compound and that it was coming from the boy's squatters.

Our Client called his son who owns a Shop at Ikeja but lives at 1004 Estate VI..

to go immediately and check out what the house maid is talking about.

Our Client's son arrived the compound and confirmed that a strong smell was indeed coming out from the BQ but the door was securely locked from the inside.

Our Client advised his son over the phone to ...

contact the Police so they can force open the door and see what's causing such strong odour. Meanwhile the phone number of the tenant was tried severally by the Landlord, our client and it was switched off.

The Police arrived and broke down the door only the find the tenant...

dead and rotting away. From their estimation, he may have died about 2/3 days ago.

Our Client's son called an ambulance and the body was taken away to the morgue as instructed by the Police.

Our Client's son was then told to come and make statement at the Police station...

Our Client was also informed to immediately report at the Police station which he did. He was at Surulere earlier in the day and that was why he called the son who was in Ikeja to intervene at the time.

After making their statements, our Client also gave the Police the...

information data Form filled by the tenant when he moved into the property just one month ago with the contact of his next of kin.

Remember that the door was locked from inside and deceased was found dead lying on the bed .

So whether he died in his sleep or committed...

suicide, only an autopsy could reveal.

However, our Client and his son were detained and described as the primary suspects over the guy's death.

From Ikeja, they were transferred to State CID Panti the next day.

If you must detained the Landlord for the death of a tenant...

why also detain the son who does not live in the property and who only came there on the instructions of his Dad and he was even the one who called the Police?

We told the Police that we would pay for an autopsy to know the cause of the tenant's death but that seeing that...

his door was locked from the inside, we can't suspect foul play and that our Client and his son be released on bail pending their investigations.

The Police refused and said our Client should raise N200,000.00 for them to write a "favourable report" which would warrant him ...

and the son to be released on bail.

We told them we had no such money to give and that paying such money would even mean our Client's hands are not clean.

They had now being in police detention for over one week and our Client was hypertensive. I brought a medical report...

from our Client's doctor showing he was hypertensive amongst other illnesses and that his health will suffer if he kept being in that Cell.

The Police refused to release the man and his son, and they refused to do an autopsy or even carry out any investigation like visiting...

...the property.

Meanwhile, the tenant's next of kin never showed up and no one ever came out to say they know this guy. The agent who brought him into the property said he didn't know him well enough.

After exactly two weeks, our Client and his son were charged...

and arraigned before the Magistrate Court, Yaba over the "murder of their tenant" , a crime which the Police claimed they committed by "strangling the tenant!"

They were remanded in Prison custody, Ikoyi pending DPP's Legal Advice.

The Legal Advice was released about...

one week later exonerating our Client and his son.

The Attorney General's office lambasted the Police in their Advise and wondered how they conjured the fact that our Client and his son who does not stay in the compound strangled their tenant and locked the door from the inside

The man and his son were immediately released from Prison custody but the way and manner the Police went about their case and even tried roping them into what they knew nothing will live with them forever.

Day 3

By the end of day 5, I would have probably sewn the longest thread on Twitter Nigeriana. Lol

Let's go please.

In early 2014, our Client was an unemployed young man doing his best to secure a job and also helping out in his church on Lagos Island.

A lady senior member of the Church, who was a retired senior Police officer noticed him and decided to help him.

She gave him an accommodation in her Boy's Squatters used her connection to secure a job for him in the Lagos State Civil service.

Good woman, right?😊

She would call our Client into her room and tell him to massage her. This went on well until she desired something more...

And our Client refused because he was in a serious relationship to the knowledge of this lady and he actually took her like a mother.

She wasn't pleased by our Client's rejection, naturally.

Some months earlier, our Client had introduced her to a Mallam who was into...

Bureau De change business and who needed a business partner. The idea was that the lady would invest say 2million naira into his FX business and after 3weeks, she will be paid 30percent interest plus her investment.

This was going on smoothly and the lady was happy...

until business went bad and the Mallam could only pay back 1.5M out of 3M that the lady invested with him. He of course, promised to pay her back if given a little time (1month).

Our good lady still hurting from our Client's rejection of her sexual advances wrote a Petition...

to the Police wherein she claimed that our Client and the Mallam have defrauded her of her money.

The Police arrested our Client and detained him at Lion Building for 3weeks. The Mallam was invited by the Police and after writing his statement, they released him & our Client..

never saw him again. Lol.

Only our Client was then charged to Court for conspiracy and obtaining by false pretenses with the Mallam who they claimed to now be "at large".

The court gave our man bail and trial commenced.

Meanwhile, the lady and the Police wrote to our Client's

office at Alausa informing them that the case and urging them to terminate his employment but they were kind to place him on suspension, only.

At the trial both the lady and the Police could not prove how our Client stole from the lady .

We filed a 'No case submission'..

(lawyers here know what that means) and our Client was discharged and aquitted.

Having been exonerated by the Court, the Police invited him again saying they have now found and arrested the Mallam and that he has made a confessional statement which indicted our Client. Lol

They re-arraigned him in court with the Mallam but then when they realized the whole charade wouldn't fly, they stopped coming to court and the case was struck out.

Our Client has since resumed in his office but he now dreads the Police, for good reasons.

Day 4

Happy Sunday to everyone.

At the APC House of Representatives Primaries last year in Epe, Lagos State, one Idris Salau was shot and killed by some known thugs/touts in broad day light.

The deceased was killed in the presence of his Mother, who is our Client and his two cousins who sustained gunshot...

wounds. The said cousins were however lucky to have survived.

The Epe Police station were very reluctant in arresting the suspects (they were 4 in number) as they were said to be very connected and had the protection of prominent politicians from that area and an ex Governor!

Some youths of the community rallied round and apprehended 3 of the suspects by themselves and were almost lynching them when officers from Epe Police station rescued them and transferred the matter to State CID, Panti, Yaba.

Our Client and other witnesses made statements...

at Panti and were looking forward to the guys been arraigned and charged to court only for them to be informed that the guys have been granted bails to reliable sureties and that investigations will continue!

It was at this point that our office fully came into the case

We wrote a Petition to the Deputy Commissioner, Panti questioning why murder suspects in a case with more than 50 witnesses and serious evidences would be granted bail.

We were invited and informed that the suspects could no longer be found and their sureties have disappeared!

I was informed by one of the officers handling the case that the boys are highly connected and that their office came under serious pressure to have them released.

We had to Petition the Commissioner of Police, Lagos.

Later, two of the suspects who were not the main suspects..

were arrested and arraigned at the Magistrate Court, Ebute-Metta.

They were remanded in Prison pending DPP's Legal Advice.

The Legal Advice was released after about two months stating that the Defendants/suspects could not be prosecuted for murder as the duplicate...

file forwarded to the Attorney General's office by the Police was scanty and didn't contain anything like statements of our Client, other witnesses and the murder weapon recovered!

They Advised that the suspects be released pending when the Police furnishes their office with...

new facts and evidence.

While we have now forwarded a fresh Petition to the Commissioner of Police, Lagos it is clear that with the right connection in Nigeria, one can commit murder in broad day light and walk free.

May God help us.

Day 5

There have been few occasions where the Police started off wrongly and were heading for shame only for them to make a u-turn and redeem themselves.

This is one of those few occasions.

A Client of ours called in November last year that he was invited by the Police to report at State CID Panti (Homicide Division) over a Petition written by his own wife.

He has been having marital issues with the wife and has moved out from their home just a month earlier.

We wondered why the Police would be involved in a domestic/matrimonial issue and the Homicide department for that matter.

We honoured the invitation with him the next day.

At the State CID, the IPO in the presence of the wife, her lawyer and ourselves said that she alleged...

in her Petition that our Client, her husband took or borrowed about 2Million naira from her when they were living happily and that he has not returned or refunded her back the money and therefore he should be charged for obtaining by false pretenses!

She also alleged that...

the husband usually comes home late (that was before he moved out of their home) and that the Police should on that basis give her full custody of their two sons.

She also alleged that her right to life is threatened by her husband because he once sent her a text telling her...

that God would judge her for everything she has made him go through in their marriage.

I honestly felt embarrassed that the Police would dabble into what was purely a domestic and matrimonial affair and should have been settled via a divorce proceedings if she was serious.

The IPO was very dramatic and brought our a detention order saying that our Client would have to be detained and probably charged to court unless he undertakes to pay back the money he allegedly borrowed from his wife and to never threaten her life. Lol.

I was convinced...

the IPO didn't know what he was doing and that his Superiors as well has no inkling about the case.

So I left them and went to the office of the Deputy Commissioner and briefed her.

She summoned all the parties and asked the IPO who approved that kind of Petition.

The man became dumb and couldn't give any reasonable response to the DC's questions.

How could borrowing money from your wife become the business of the Police? How could telling your or anyone for that matter that God would judge them become a threat to life?

The DC apologized to my Client and told us to take our leave. What later became of that IPO, I do not know.

One thing is clear- there are few good Police officers out there but they can only do so little as the system has been so rigged that such officers are seen as a threat..

by their colleagues.

Our Police Force need urgent reforms. Their recruitment, salary, welfare, discipline etc needs to be reviewed.

Most officers are suffering from low self esteem and inferiority complex that they see any educated or clean youth/person as a threat.

Most of them are barely educated and cannot conjure one good sentence in English. Yet these persons are expected to investigate complicate cases, write reports and have basic knowledge of the law.

If the Police isn't reformed, we're all joking, hoping for a better Nigeria.

Thank you all for following this thread and hopefully there will be more threads not just about the Police but other interesting cases.

Thanks to my Principal @AyoJulius7, and my colleagues Nkem okafor, Caleb Daramola, etc who made it alot easier handling these cases.