The Senior Special Assistant on Media to the Lagos State Governor, Wale Ajetunmobi, has alleged that four armed policemen threatened to shoot him during a late-night stop in Lagos. Ajetunmobi said the incident occurred around Daleko Road in Mushin, shortly before midnight on Friday, when he was driving to a……
The Senior Special Assistant on Media to the Lagos State Governor, Wale Ajetunmobi, has alleged that four armed policemen threatened to shoot him during a late-night stop in Lagos.
Ajetunmobi said the incident occurred around Daleko Road in Mushin, shortly before midnight on Friday, when he was driving to a hospital after delivering an item to a journalist colleague at a newspaper’s office in Mushin
In a detailed account posted on his X handle on Saturday, Ajetunmobi said the officers stopped him with an unmarked commercial bus and initially failed to properly identify themselves.
He said the encounter began after he noticed a yellow commercial minibus moving slowly along the road while it was drizzling, adding that he became suspicious when one of its occupants, who was hooded, flagged him down.
According to him, one of the men emerged from the vehicle holding a gun, while another came out with what appeared to be a tear gas gun.
Ajetunmobi said he initially suspected that the men were robbers until he noticed what appeared to be a barely visible “police” inscription on one of their jackets.
He alleged that the men ordered him to come down from his SUV and open the boot for a search.
“Come down, we want to search your boot,” one of them allegedly told him.
The governor’s aide said he complied with the order but questioned the manner in which he had been stopped and asked why he was being requested to produce his driver’s licence at that hour.
He said one of the men allegedly responded: “If you like, be going to church. It’s none of our business. Get your vehicle’s and driver’s licence out now.”
According to Ajetunmobi, the situation escalated when his journalist colleague arrived at the scene and asked what had happened.
He said one of the armed men allegedly threatened him, saying: “I will just fire you there if you don’t shut your dirty mouth. Are you mad?”
Ajetunmobi said he later contacted a senior police officer, who instructed him to put the call on speaker and speak with the men.
He said the officers provided limited identification details when questioned by the senior officer and claimed they were conducting routine patrols.
According to him, the senior officer eventually instructed the policemen to allow him to leave, after identifying him as an SSA to the governor.
Ajetunmobi said one of the officers responded that he would “forgive” him, prompting him to ask what offence he had committed.
He alleged that the officer replied that, but for the intervention of the senior officer, he would not have been able to withstand what they would have done to him.
The governor’s aide said the officers eventually returned to their vehicle and drove towards Daleko Bridge, prompting him to turn back to Fatai Atere Way to avoid another encounter.
He described the incident as “a chilling example of what many law-abiding citizens go through in their daily commuting.”
Ajetunmobi, who said he had previously covered crime as a journalist, stressed that his criticism was directed at what he described as rogue elements within the police rather than the entire Force.
“I am one who supports the police crime-busting efforts and have consistently amplified their operational successes,” he said.
“However, certain behaviours should not be overlooked, particularly those exhibited by rogue individuals in the system whose actions blemish the system and withdraw public trust.”
He also recounted a similar experience allegedly suffered by a doctor friend along the same axis about two years ago, involving armed officers travelling in a yellow commercial bus.
Ajetunmobi called on the police authorities to address the use of unidentifiable vehicles for patrol and other operations, warning that such practices could make it difficult to identify officers in cases of abuse or criminal conduct.
He said the policemen involved in his encounter had no visible name tags and were travelling in a vehicle that was not identifiable as a police patrol vehicle.
“Only sparsely fastened jackets with vague inscriptions,” he said.
The governor’s aide concluded by likening such officers to the “unknown police” referenced by late Afrobeat musician Fela Anikulapo-Kuti in his criticism of police misconduct.
