A woman who lost her pregnancy due to an alleged physical attack from a high ranking police officer has narrated her ordeal to the press and she seeks justice.
Mrs Risikat Bamidele
A 37-year-old woman, Mrs Risikat Bamidele, has lost her pregnancy after a Divisional Police Officer in charge of Kemta Idi-Aba Police Headquarters in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, allegedly brutalised her, according to the New Telegraph.
The DPO, identified as CSP Samuel, was said to have assaulted the woman on Saturday night for “daring to make a phone call” in his presence.
Speaking with a correspondent on her hospital bed at the State Hospital, Ijaiye, Abeokuta, Mrs Bamidele said she lost her nine-week-old pregnancy owing to the torture received from the DPO.
The victim, who is a non teaching staff member of Catholic Comprehensive High School at Onikolobo, Abeokuta, disclosed that she was at the police station in respect of a matter involving her husband, Tunde Bamidele. Writhing in pain, Bamidele explained that she wanted to put a call across to her brother- in-law when the police chief descended on her with repeated slaps and jabs. According to her, the DPO later ordered her detention which was effected by a junior police officer.
She said: “When I got to the police station, my husband gave me his phone that I should call his brother. When I was calling, I just saw one man; I never knew he is the DPO. He said ‘you are very silly, you are phoning after 8 (pm). You don’t know we don’t phone here after 8 (pm)?’ “I apologised that I wasn’t aware I shouldn’t call even when other officers were there and they didn’t stop me.
“He forcibly took my phone and called a police officer to arrest me. They harassed me and pushed me and my husband had to rush out shouting ‘she is pregnant, don’t push her.’ That was when the man started slapping and shouting at me.” Bamidele added that she suffered serious stomach pains all through the night following the assault.
She said the police officers on duty could not come to her aid but her husband gave her some money to buy sanitary pad to stop the blood flow from her private part. The victim added that on Monday she was rushed to the hospital where doctors confirmed that her nine weeks’ old pregnancy had been aborted. Also, the husband said he was detained at the police station for daring to request for some money owed him by a building contractor which amounted to N894,000 for the past 19 months.
The police have been accused of collecting a sum of N20,000 for the bail of the couple when bail is supposed to be free.