Mr Adenigbo, through his chamber, Adenigbo of A.A Ojopagogo and Company accused the men of the NSCDC of allegedly brutalising Mr Adeleye at his office located along Hospital Road, Akure around 4.pm on 12th January, 2011.
It was gathered that Mr Adeleye who is the Public Relations Officer of Suppliers Association of Ondo State, had bailed two members of the union who were arrested with a truck load of petroleum products.
Mr Adeleye, who stood as surety for the two members of the union, later paid N35,000 to secure their bail. Aside from the N35,000 paid to the men of the NSCDC, he also alleged that additional N400,000 was collected from him as final settlement on an alleged case of bunkering.
A few days after Mr Adeleye the men were released, officials of the NSCDC stormed his office to arrest him for not producing the men after their bail. In the process of arresting him, he was beaten up and had to be hospitalised for three days due to injuries he sustained from the beating.
Mr Adeleye’s lawyer, however, wondered why the civil defence corps whose primary duty and responsibility is to maintain law and order could inflict injuries on his client.
The petition reads in part, “Corps member numbering about 15 led by one Mr Igala stormed my chambers on 12th of January, 2011 and met Mr Adeleye with me. They said they have been directed to arrest Adeleye but I asked for their invitation letter.
“They later returned to my chamber with more men and forcefully entered my office in a commando style and dragged out my client and started beating him with batons. The said officers beat a hell of my client, his arm was broken and he was dragged downstairs with beating and forced into a waiting van.” The lawyer said, “We hereby use this medium to register our displeasure over the callous, ungodly and uncivilised manner our client was treated by your men and we want this to serve as a mandatory three-day statutory notice of our client’s intention to sue your command for the barbaric and shabby treatment of our client in the court of competent jurisdiction.” When contacted, the Public Relations Officer of the corps, Kayode Balogun, said the allegation was not true, and declined to make any further comment.
An Akure based legal practitioner, Tunde Adenigbo, yesterday petitioned the Commandant General of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) over the unlawful treatment allegedly meted on one of his clients, Dele Adeleye, by men of the Ondo State command of the organisation.
