The Lagos State Command has described untrue reports suggesting that the Police Area Commander in Ikorodu walked Magistrate Ganiyat Anifowose out of the premises of the Area Command. The Magistrate was said to be observing the monthly cell visitation.
SP Benjamin Hundeyin, the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, in an announcement, said what actually transpired was that on 27 July 2022, Magistrate Anifowose came into the Area Command with about ten lawyers, a development he said was against the procedure for monthly cell visits by Magistrates.
SP Hundeyin alleges that the lawyers Magistrate Anifowose came with started taking pictures and making video recordings, a practice the Area Commander staunchly refused, because, according to him, it was against the laid down procedure.
“Furthermore, Magistrates Cell Visit is totally different from Police Duty Solicitor Scheme (PDSS) visit, which is targeted at providing legal services to indigent suspects. This, the Police have been doing well in collaboration with the Legal Aid Council of Nigeria. It was, therefore, inappropriate for the Magistrate to have visited with a PDSS team”.
SP Hundeyin further alleges that in the instant case, the visit by Magistrate Anifowose was conducted contrary to the provisions of the Administration of Criminal Justice Law (ACJL) 2021, which the Police have been trained on and are abiding with. “The Area Commander having observed all the lapses had no choice but to insist on the right procedure.
“Contrary to reports, the Area Commander did not and would never walk a Magistrate out of the Police Command. The Area Commander, of course, asked the lawyers to wait outside the station, since they were not part of the monthly visit by law. Rather, the Magistrate opted to go with them, saying she could not carry out her visit without the lawyers”.
SP Hundeyin insists that at no point did armed men harass the Magistrate. “Armed men are routinely within the premises of police formations”, he stressed.
Concluding, SP Hundeyin quotes the Commissioner of Police, Lagos State Command, CP Abiodun Alabi, as reiterating the Command’s continual cooperation and work with the judiciary and all other stakeholders in the administration of justice to ensure a smooth dispensation of criminal justice within the state.