Alaka Abayomi, an oil marketer and owner of Alaka Petroleum, who was arrested by the police on Monday for alleged sponsorship of Badoo cult has broken his silence.
Abayomi, a landlord in the highbrow Magodo, said he was not a sponsor of Badoo and threatened to sure the Police and the media.
He was arrested by Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Special Tactical Squad (STS) and paraded before reporters who were taken round a shrine in Agbowa, near Ikorodu, described as the largest in the area.
Reacting, Abayomi said: “For some months now, a recording that mentioned my name, those of the Ikorodu monarch, Ibeshe monarch, a man called Be Happy and others have been circulating online under the allegation that we are Badoo sponsors.
“No one ever came to challenge me or asked about it until last week when I was invited to police station”, he told The Nation.
“Before they took me to the station, they searched my house and they found nothing incriminating. They took me to police station. I was not allowed to write any statement. I was released.
“Then, three days ago, they came around 11pm and I asked them what happened? They said they wanted to see me in their station. After that, they went to De King Hotel, Ikorodu and asked for the owner. They said they wanted to see the owner, he was not around and so, they arrested the manager.
“From there, they went to the hotel owner’s house and his family said he was not around. They went to the palace of Oba Ibeshe to arrest the monarch. He lambasted them and asked why they would come to his palace at that ungodly hour to arrest him? He asked them why they didn’t invite him and refused to follow them.
“They also went to other places to make other arrests. All those they were hunting were people whose names were on the tape circulating online.
“We got to the police station around 2am. I told them I wanted to write my statement but they didn’t allow me. The following day, they took me to a shrine. I know the shrine. I usually go there to seek spiritual assistance to boost my business. I am not the owner. It is owned by one Baba Oluwo. He died seven years ago.
“Those graves were dug by the late Baba Oluwo while he was alive for his burial. I asked the policemen to open the grave whether they would find any incriminating thing there but they didn’t. Why did they refuse to open it?
“Shortly after, I saw the leader of the policemen speaking with journalists. I asked that I should be allowed to speak on camera but they denied me. They didn’t allow me speak with the journalists and they didn’t allow me to write a statement.
“It is a known fact that police have been arresting innocent people since Badoo issue came up. They have been collecting money from them. Ikorodu people are even tired of them because they didn’t go after the main Badoo suspects but are busy arresting innocent people and extorting money from them.
“The actions of those policemen could best be described as criminal and murderous. In fact, they are not supposed to be in the Nigeria Police Force at all. There is proof. Those policemen have been coming to Ikorodu to extort and assault people since the issue of Badoo came up.
“Unfortunately, the people they are arresting are nothing but innocent people. Since this issue came up, people have been going to attack my house and where I do my business.
“The police confirmed that this person is a suspected kidnapper. Why don’t they allow me to write statement? Why don’t they allow me to grant interview?
“I will sue the Inspector-General of Police, Commissioner of Police and all the media houses that called me Badoo sponsor. The media ought to have investigated the allegation before publishing anything.
“I told the police that the actions they took will back fire, they started panicking. As a matter of fact, I’m seriously upset because the journalists did not interview me. I was angry that they didn’t allow me to be interviewed. Even those journalists didn’t insist on interviewing me. What manner of hatchet job was that? Why would that happen?”
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