Everbless, who makes a living as a computer operator, said he was at his work place that Saturday morning when he got a call from his sister that Samuel had been wounded, prompting him to rush back home.
“I have lived in that house for three years now and my siblings live with me. That very morning, my sister Faith was at the backyard washing some clothes when Ajayi showed up with a cutlass and started making threats. He went to the clothes line and took off all the clothes my sister had washed and threw them on the ground. When my sister started shouting, Samuel who was inside, rushed out of the house to his sister’s aid,” Everbless said.
Samuel’s action was said not to have gone down well with Ajayi who allegedly asked him if he wanted to die. Everbless said, “When Ajayi said that, Samuel turned to go back into the house only for Ajayi to hit him on the scapula with a cutlass.” Samuel was immediately rushed to the hospital by his siblings and other neighbours.
“I rushed home immediately I got the call and met Ajayi sitting outside; he did not say a word to me. I too did not talk to him and instead went to the Shasha Medical Centre, where Samuel had been taken too. It was after that I went to the Afonka Police Station Shasha to make a report,” Everbless said.
At the police station, while Everbless made his compliant, he saw Ajayi being walked in by a policeman. “I told the lady attending to me that Ajayi was the person I had come to complain about. Another brother of mine had come earlier to lodge a complaint and Ajayi was being arrested.” Unfortunately for Everbless, the police did not work as he expected. “I was shocked to see Ajayi back home some hours later and when it was obvious justice wasn’t forthcoming, I went to the Area G command Ogba to lodge another complaint.
Ajayi was rearrested, but released a week later on April 3, Everbless said.
“I was told by the IPO, one Corporal Bello handling the case not to make any more trouble with Ajayi; I should abandon any plan of taking the case to court. The case was eventually taken to court two days after I complained to the Area commander; an action that greatly offended Bello,” Everbless said. His insistence on pursing legal redress has now turned the tables against him. The matter was brought before the Ikeja family court on the 14th of April but instead of a case of assault, the Bello had filed a case of affray in court and joined Ajayi, Samuel and Faith, as accused persons.
“I was warned that I would regret my decision and Bello made good his threat. On the day of the arraignment, imagine my surprise when I looked into the court and saw Faith and Samuel crying. I was outside and did not know that my siblings were now accused persons and were to be remanded in Kirikiri until their bail conditions had been met. Before my eyes, Faith was handcuffed,” Everbless recalled. With his lawyer unavailable, Everbless despondently left the court premises.
“I didn’t know what to do, I was confused. I was still on the road when the Bello called me and said I should come and pick Samuel from the Area G command. It was later I learnt that Samuel was rejected by the prison warden that accompanied the Black Maria” Everbless explained. Being under aged, Samuel was to have been taken to a remand home but when the prison warden saw his swollen arm, he immediately rejected the boy. “Then Samuel’s right arm was so swollen, he couldn’t wear a shirt. When the warden saw the wound on his shoulder, he ordered the Bello to take Samuel back,” Everbless said. Ajayi is currently said to be remanded at the Kirikiri prison.
“Samuel has suffered both physically and emotionally. He is still unable to use his right hand as a result of that assault. Although he went back to school and tried to write his second term exams soon after the incident, he has since been unable to go back because of his hand,” Everbless lamented.
On his part, Samuel could barely speak to CRIME DIGEST; it seemed all his strength was geared towards enduring the pain he lives with. His right hand hung by his side stiff in a stiff position while he bore his neck stiffly too.
A source at the Ikeja Family Court told CRIME DIGEST that a witness summons had been ordered for Bello as he did not turn up for the last hearing on May 23. “The magistrate cancelled the bail that had been set for Samuel when his lawyer presented the facts. The court has directed Samuel to receive medical attention from LASUTH. The case has been adjourned to June 27 and the matter referred to the Directorate for Public Prosecution,” the source said.
The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Samuel Jinadu, however said the story brought before the police was a case of affray. “Samuel and Ajayi were both charged with affray; both parties were involved in a fight,” Jinadu said. www.facebook.com/emmanuelsamuko
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