Lagos State CP vs Brooks Estate Securities; from the Law Lenses
Solomon Oluwaseun Olukoya
The social space was polluted on the 1st of January, 2022, with the news that the private security guards at Brooks Estate, Magodo, Isheri, were arrested by the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Hakeem Odumosu, for allegedly delaying and denying him entry into the estate. The police chief was said to have driven to the estate in his convoy on Saturday to meet a “strategic partner at an event” when the incident occurred.
According to a statement from the Lagos State Police Command, the estate was not locked down as had been rumored on social media. In a statement captioned, “Brooks Estate was not shut down by Lagos CP,” the Lagos Police Public Relations Officer, Adekunle Ajisebutu, also in his statement, cautioned private security guards not to disobey or exhibit any form of disrespect or disregard for the police force.
The Police PRO, Lagos State Command, did not state that the CP and his entourage of heavily armed police had been at the estate to make an arrest or search any residence in the estate in his press statement.
The estate management also published a public statement denying the Lagos State Police Command’s claims. The estate management confirmed that social events were taking place on the estate that day and that no one had anticipated the CP’s arrival. The estate management also claimed that the CP arrested a widow and her three young children who happened to be present at the time.
They didn’t have any arrest or search warrants. Sections 18, 494, and 495 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015 categorically outline the instances in which a police officer could arrest without first issuing a warrant. For support, the ACJA, 2015 provides that a person or police officer working under an arrest warrant can enter a house or place and search it for the suspect to be arrested, according to Section 12(2) of the ACJA. If access to a residence cannot be acquired under subsection (1) of this section, the police officer may break open any of the houses’ exterior or interior doors or windows. Similar clauses can be found in the Nigeria Police Act of 2020. If any of these was the issue, in this case, it probably was have validated the CP’s arrest of the Brooks Estate security officers.
According to the report from the press, the estate’s security officers were never given the location or any details of the individual the CP and his convey wished to see, where such an urgent problem teetering on security was to have been discussed.
Furthermore, the estate did not inform the authorities of any breach of security that would warrant the presence of law enforcement officers, either.
Going further, being able to attend social events is not among a police officer’s formal duties. The estate was a private residence, subject to Nigerian and Lagos State laws; it had the power to implement its safeguards, limiting access and movement within the estate. No provision requires any law enforcement officer to have unrestricted access to any private property unless it is to arrest a suspect or conduct a search, and any such information must be revealed to the owner or person in control of the property or site first. CP Odumosu, the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, failed to do just that.
Conclusively, I could not have spelled it out better than Olukunle Edun when he posited that the CP lacked the jurisdiction to order the arrest of the security guards or anybody else because of the “humiliation” he supposedly received as a result of the “delay” in providing him entry since he failed to follow the provisions of the law he was hired to police. That is a misuse of his position’s authority. His forced intrusion onto the estate without adequate authority may be considered illegal and trespassory, and the estate may choose to use its legal rights and pursue legal remedies. There is no such thing as a law enforcement official who is above the law. They are likewise subject to the same laws as Federal Republic nationals.
Solomon Oluwaseun, Olukoya is a student of law at the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. Solomon is a freelance writer, researcher and a teachable fellow. He is also a certified blockchain expert in law and finance. He can be reached vide: +2347030313860 or olukoyasolomon64@gmail.com
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