Olufunmilayo Erioluwa
Lagos hairstylist sent to 44days jail over dog. Olufunmilayo Erioluwa, 33, who was accused of attacking a police officer and then released by a court, claims she was made to suffer over a puppy.
The hairstylist claims she was wrongfully imprisoned and placed in the Kirikiri Custodial Centre because the dog owner was connected to the police.
After 44 days in prison, she was freed on June 27.
She expressed gratitude to Inibehe Effiong, a human rights lawyer, and his legal team, adding she could have “died in detention having been traumatised by the incident.”
“I want to beg Nigerians who saw my picture when the police posted it on Twitter to arise and fight for me because I am weighed down by it all; it’s too much on me,” Erioluwa continued.
The woman was arrested for allegedly attacking a police officer less than 24 hours after Afrobeat star Seun Kuti was arrested on a similar allegation.
SP Benjamin Hundeyin, the state Police Public Relations Officer, tweeted about the event on May 16.
“Somewhere in Ogombo yesterday, she assaulted a police officer,” the tweet said. She was arraigned today and detained in the Kirikiri prison facility until June 6, when the matter returns to court.”
Attached to the tweet was a photograph of Erioluwa firmly grasping the uniform of a smiling police officer.
The original copy of the court document was also attached to the post by the PPRO.
According to numerous media outlets, Erioluwa assaulted the officer during a stop and search and squeezed his uniform with impunity.
The woman, who was unable to offer her side of the event at the time, claimed she was framed.
Misunderstanding about the dog
The issue, according to Erioluwa, arose from a “insignificant incident” between her and a neighbor with whom she had a dispute.
“I was about to go out and buy food that evening when I noticed one of my neighbors with her child and their dog in the middle of the road.” I had to chase the dog since I didn’t want to ask her or her daughter to pull over.
“As a result, the woman became enraged when I chased the dog. She was curious as to what had caused her dog to be chased away. I didn’t realize she was serious until she started hurling insults at me. She threatened to report me to the landlord, claiming that I couldn’t have a child and that was why I dumped sand on her cat.
“I went inside and reported her to my boyfriend, who came out and warned her to stop mocking me with such statements.” He inquired if she had accompanied me to any hospital where the doctor had declared me barren. “I left after the exchanges,” she explained.
“That night, around 7.30 p.m., I was at a friend’s burial when someone came to me and said that some policemen were looking for me,” Erioluwa added.
“I didn’t want to get in trouble with my boyfriend, so I went to meet them.” Mama Ezinne went to the station to get a police officer and three others to arrest me.
“I was surprised because we didn’t fight; neither of us touched each other.”
Erioluwa stated that the smiling police officer had smacked and dragged her to the point of exposing her breasts before she tried to release herself from his hands.
She further said that the cops had no arrest warrants or identity cards, but beat her up because she asked to know what her crime was.
“When the policeman saw me, he asked if I was Funmilayo, and I said yes.” He informed me that I was being arrested, and I said, ‘What occurred sir, what did I do, and from which police station?’
“The officer retorted aggressively, ‘Are you stupid?’ He questioned my authority to question a police officer. ‘I had to ask because I don’t know what I did wrong to get arrested,’ I explained. You didn’t even show me your identification, and you just asked me to get inside your van?’
“I told him I wouldn’t be going anywhere with him. He slapped me, seized my garments, and began dragging me, pressing my breasts in the process.
“He boasted that he had dealt with other ladies like me and nothing had happened, and that nothing would happen after dealing with me.” He was dragging and beating me the entire time.
“So, as I tried to free myself from his tight grip and also cover myself a little because my breasts were exposed,” she explained, “his colleagues began taking pictures, saying I was in trouble and that they would make sure I rot in jail; that I had assaulted a policeman.”
Erioluwa insisted that she could not have assaulted a police officer in front of his colleagues and that she was just defending herself from his hostility.
“I can’t beat a cop,” she said. They simply accused me, so the image is clear. They were four armed cops with no identification and no arrest warrant.
“The officer in the photograph who is smiling said he was going to torture me and my friend.” They pushed, battered, and abused me because I owned a dog.”
Legal proceedings
Erioluwa, a resident of Benue State’s Oju Local Government Area, was arraigned before the Eti-Osa Magistrates’ Court on May 17, 2023.
She was charged with two counts of assault and resisting arrest before Magistrate M. O. Alao.
Jacob Samuel, the police prosecutor, asked the court to remand her in police custody.
Alao granted the request and ordered her detention for 21 days until the outcome of the police inquiry.
“That you, Olufumilayo Erioluwa, on May 14, 2023, around 9pm, at Ajah, Eti-Osa, in the Lagos Magisterial District, did commit a felony with a serious assault on one Olufowobi Nureni, an inspector of police, thereby committing an offence under Section 174 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015,” the charges against her read.
“That you, Olufumilayo Erioluwa, assaulted, resisted, obstructed, and unlawfully prevented one Olufowobi Nureni, an inspector of police attached to the Ogombo Divisional Headquarters, in the course of carrying out his lawful and official duty, thereby committing an offence punishable under Section 174 (b) (c) and (e) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State.”
The defendant pled not guilty to the accusations, and the case was continued to June 6th.
On June 6, Inibehe and his legal team came in court to defend the woman, but she was not produced by the Kirikiri Custodial Centre, where she was being kept.
The police officer and the neighbor were also missing from court because the case had been postponed until later.
Abuse of power
Inibehe, whose law firm took up the case, said their findings showed that the arrest and prosecution were baseless.
Inibehe told Saturday PUNCH that the police could not present any evidence or witnesses, thus his request that the case be dismissed.
“The case has been dismissed, and she has been released,” he stated. The police were unable to present the complaint and witness in court. She is no longer on trial; we worked hard to get her released from the detention center.”
Inibehe said from the way the case was going, it was clear that the police had nothing concrete to tender before the court.
He stated, “This is pure abuse of power. It is a case of personal animosity, a disagreement between two neighbours but because the other was connected to a police officer, they teamed up to frustrate the young woman.
“The complainant, the police officer who claimed he was assaulted, Olufowobi Nureni, and Erioluwa’s neighbor, did not appear in court for the entire time the case was heard.” The Kirikiri Custodial Centre failed to appear in court, and the matter was rescheduled for June 27, 2023. The cops committed this behavior on purpose to delay her judgment because they lacked evidence to offer in court.”
Inibehe went on to say that if his team had not taken up Erioluwa’s case, she would have been left to fester in jail.
He said that the police violated the woman’s rights, allowing her to learn why she was being detained.