Ayodele Olalere
An Ikeja High Court presided by Justice Oyindamola Ogala was, on Monday, told how the police allegedly assaulted a 37-year-old driver, Elijah Shokoya accused of the involuntary manslaughter of Mr Olawale Akinmade, an officer of the Lagos Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA), in a bid to obtain his statement.
While recounting his ordeal in the hands of the law enforcement agents during a trial-within-trial to determine whether his police statement was obtained under duress, Shokoya alleged the police beat and slapped him when he was arrested, and forced him to sign a statement writing in English language which he did not understand.
Shokoya is facing a charge of involuntary manslaughter.
Testifying in Yoruba language and interpreted in English language, Shokoya was led in evidence by the defence counsel, Mrs Abiodun Kolawole.
He said that he gave his police statement in the morning of Jan. 27 a day after he was apprehended by authorities.
“My statement was obtained in the morning around 7.10am. I was taken to a room outside and I was asked to write.
“I told them I cannot write and that I do not understand English and I cannot read very well. They said I was lying and they slapped me and the Investigating Police Officer (IPO)started writing something.
“I did not understand what she was writing. The other police officer used a stick to hit me on the hand and while the IPO was writing, she was beating me,” he said.
He added: ” When she finished writing, she asked me to sign what she wrote and I told her I did not understand what she wrote and I refused to sign it.
“She hit me and the other police officer beat me with a stick and I asked them to give me a mobile phone to so that I can speak to a lawyer and my people.
” I wanted to speak to a lawyer so that my lawyer can interprete what was written down so that I can sign it.
“She slapped me again and the other male police officer with her was hitting me with a stick. When I realised the beating was too much, I took the biro from her and signed the statement.”
While being cross-examined by Mrs Olayinka Adeyemi, the Lagos State Director of the Directorate of Public Prosecution (DPP) Shokoya, a native of Ogun State said he attended the Oworonshoki Primary School, Lagos. He told the court hrs yet to recover from the pains inflicted on him by the police.
“I still feel pain on my left arm from the beating. I informed my lawyer about the assault. There was no LASTMA officer present when my statement was taken,” he said.
Earlier, a policewoman, ASP Mercy Ibok narrated to the court how she obtained the driver’s statement. She described herself as a traffic officer serving at the Alapere Police Station.
Led in evidence by the DPP, Ibok said that after Shokoya was brought to the police station after the alleged manslaughter of the LASTMA officer, she was cordial and friendly towards him.
She said that her superior was in the office alongside two LASTMA officers when the defendant’s statement was taken.
“The office is an open office that contained five chairs and a table. The atmosphere was very calm. I conversed with him in English Language.
“The defendant asked me to write his statement and he went through it before signing it. The allegations that he was coerced into giving a statement is false. Idid not beat him,” she said.
While being cross-examined by Kolawole, Ibok said that Shokoya never informed her that he did not understand English Language and that a lawyer was not present when his statement was taken.
On why she did not indicate the time the statement was taken according to standard police procedure, Ibok said that she had just received the bad news of Akinmade’s death.
“I did not indicate the time of the statement because she was in a state of shock and when I heard the bad news, I took him to the cell.
“I did not write the content of the statement as a result of bias”she said.
According to the prosecution, the defendant caused the death of Akinmade at 7.20p.m. on Jan. 26, on the Ikorodu Expressway by Demurin Junction, Ketu, Lagos.
The DPP alleges that the defendant mowed down Akinmade with his Opel Car with registration number AAA 74 GG.
The offence contravened the provisions of Section 224 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State 2015 and is punishable under Section 229 of the same law.
The court adjourned the case until December 12 for adoption of written addresses in the trial-within-trial.
