Engr. Titi Lawal, an eye witness in the case between CSP Akintunde Oyeniran Divisional Police Officer (DPO) in charge of the Iyaganku police station and Mr. Tony Awobode who is popularly known as ‘Don Tee’ has said the latter lied about his claim that he was assaulted and brutalised by the Police.
Lawal, an executive member of the Police Community Relations Committee (PCRC) Iyaganku division who claimed to have witnessed the whole drama condemned the action of the General Manager of Jamz FM for distorting the fact, while speaking with some newsmen that were on fact-finding mission to the Iyaganku area, scene of the incident.
Lawal who mentioned two other persons that witnessed the incident with him on Sunday evening said Awobode should be the one to apologise to the senior Police Officer and not the other way round as it had been demanded by the colleagues of the journalist.
“We witnessed the whole situation on Sunday, because we driving behind DPO’s vehicle, coming from the Odo-Ona axis towards Iyaganku-Aleshinloye junction where Awobode was also coming from and he had formed a third lane with his power bike, blocking other vehicle and “okadas” from the opposite side, (Dugbe axis) and as he was trying to maneuver his way out, he brushed the vehicle of the officer and damaged the pointer and side mirror of the car.
“Instead of apologising when the officer called his attention to the damage done on his car, he resorted to bragging, claiming to know Governor and Inspector General of Police as it was evident that he was already drunk and tipsy.
“It was the aggressive Okada riders that were deprived of movement that assaulted him which made the officer to quickly call on his men to take him to the station to save the situation.
“We drove behind them to the station and we saw four people that came to plead with the DPO on his behalf before he was released on self recognizance after he had written his statement. But to our surprise today, we began to hear entirely different and untrue stories credited to Don Tee in some sections of the media,” said Lawal.
The PCRC chieftain however, admonished the Nigeria Union of Journalist (NUJ) Oyo State Chapter for not conducting a proper investigation to ascertain the fact of the matter before taking side with their member, while calling for more and proper investigation on the matter.
When the Oyo State Police Public Relation Officer was contacted, DSP Adewale Osifeso said the matter has been amicably settled between the parties by the Deputy Commissioner of Police in-charge of the State CID Ibadan, after the intervention of the State Police Commissioner, CP Ngozi Onadeko
