Lagos police confirms arrest of Magodo estate guards who asked the commissioner of police to ‘call a resident of the estate he was visiting before he would be allowed in’

The Lagos state police has confirmed the arrest of four security guards at Brooks Estate in Magodo. It was alleged that Lagos police commissioner, Hakeem Odumosu ordered their arrest after being asked to ‘call a resident of the estate he was visiting before he would be allowed inro.the Estate. It was reported that the police chief was visiting the estate for a party hosted by an aide of the Federal Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, but was delayed during the checking-in process and that he arrested the guards and shut down the gate, making it impossible for residents to go in and out of the estate.

Lagos police which has now confirmed the incident in a statement released by its spokesperson Adekunle Ajisebutu, said the estate guards were arrested after the police commissioner who visited the estate on Saturday to meet a “strategic partner”, was refused entry even after being formally introduced.

He claimed that all appeals to the security men to allow the CP see someone at a function where an urgent matter bordering on security was to be discussed, fell on deaf ears even when they had foreknowledge of his coming.

“In spite of this deliberate humiliation, the senior police officer remained calm. When it became obvious that the security men were going overboard, the CP, after about 30 minutes humiliation, ordered the arrest of four of the security men, leaving one. However, in order not to make the Estate porous, the Commissioner of Police immediately posted well-armed policemen at the gate to support the security man left behind.

“A few minutes later, a female resident of the Estate later identified as Adebola Fatiregun who didn’t witness the incident but heard of it, stormed the gate in anger, inciting other residents against the Commissioner of Police and his aides. She was also arrested for inciting violence and conduct likely to cause a breach of peace.” Ajisebutu said those arrested were taken to Isheri police division where they made statements, but were released minutes after following the intervention of “notable individuals. “Some residents of the Estate, in solidarity with the arrested security men, deliberately closed the gate, thereby creating a temporary gridlock. This they did after the CP had left, perhaps to blackmail him and make him release the security men, he added