A policewoman, Olorunsogo Bamidele, recently accused her superior officer, Matthew Ajayi, of assault and blackmail in Osun State, southwest Nigeria.
Bamidele, who is serving at the Osun State Police Command, and attached to the Ode-Omu Divisional Headquarters, accused Ajayi, a Divisional Crime Officer (DCO), of assaulting her because she refused to get into a relationship with him on the grounds that she is a married woman.
In a short video that surfaced on Facebook on Tuesday, the inspector also claimed that after inflicting injuries on her, the DCO also brought a gun from his office threatening to shoot her.
‘I asked what my offence was and he started beating me to the extent that he naked me. Look at my hand and chest with bruises’, she claimed.
‘He asked me to date him and I told him that I am a married woman and since my refusal, he started blackmailing me’.
The video shows her with cuts and bruises all over her body, with her torn police uniform, calling for justice.
Nigeria has the third-highest rate of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) in the world, with data from the World Health Organisation (WHO) showing that at least 30 percent of women and girls aged between 15 and 49 have experienced one or multiple forms of sexual abuse.
Available figures indicate that gender-based violence (GBV) in Nigeria has been on a steady increase despite the existence of the Violence Against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) Act since 2015.
The VAPP Act prohibits all forms of violence against persons, in private and public life, and provides maximum protection and effective remedies for victims and punishment of offenders.
Earlier this year, the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) said no fewer than 20 states in Nigeria, including Osun State, have domesticated the VAPP Act.
The Osun State Governor, Adegboyega Oyetola, in October 2021, signed the bill for the domestication of the Act.
Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Usman Baba, has ordered the Commissioner of Police in Osun State, Olaleye Faleye, to investigate the alleged assault on the inspector.
According to the first principle of the Nigeria Police Code of Conduct, police officers shall conduct themselves, whether on or off duty, in accordance with the country’s constitution and all applicable laws, ordinances and rules enacted or established pursuant to legal authority.
The police authorities must, therefore, ensure that they carry out a thorough and unbias investigation into the allegations against Ajayi.
The investigators should also implement the provisions of the VAPP Act in handling this case effectively.
Photo source: Naija Times
