Lagos police explains visit to Brooks Estate, Magodo

Warns against denying officers access to public places 
Lagos Police Command has warned that any restriction deliberately put in the way of officers in any estates in Lagos will no longer be tolerated.

The command spokesperson, Adekunle Ajisebutu, who gave the warning, denounced news on social media, alleging that the State Commissioner of Police, Hakeem Odumosu, locked down Brooks Estate, Magodo, Isheri during his visit to the estate as fake news.  
 
Ajisebutu claimed that the purveyors of the news are those whose intention is to make a mountain out of a molehill and are out to blackmail the Commissioner for personal reasons.
   

“A few minutes later, a female resident of the estate, identified as Adebola Fatiregun, who didn’t witness the incident, but heard of it, stormed the gate in anger, inciting other residents against the Commissioner and his aides.
 
“She was also arrested for inciting violence and conduct likely to cause a breach of peace.”
  
Ajisebutu confirmed that those arrested were taken to the Isheri Police Division where they made statements and were subsequently released a few minutes later, following the intervention of notable individuals.
 

“Some residents of the estate in solidarity for the arrested security men deliberately closed the gate, thereby creating a temporary gridlock. This they did after the CP had left, perhaps, to blackmail him and make him release the security men.
 
“It should be stated here that the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria provides for freedom of movement. The police in particular are statutorily permitted to enter any public place at any time. The Brooks Estate is a public place and the roads leading into it are highways and as such, no one has the power to prevent police officers in uniform from entering the Estate or any such public places.

“The internal security arrangements of the estates and other public places nonetheless, the statutory powers of the police to have unfettered access to public places must be acknowledged and respected.
 
“Managements or authorities of estates in the state are advised to constantly brief their private security guards in this regard. Any restriction deliberately put in the way of the police in any of the estates will not be tolerated. Offenders will be dealt with according to the law, just as the police will not condone any form of embarrassment and recklessness.”