The Commissioner of Police in Lagos State Command, Hakeem Odumosu, has ordered the redeployment of the Divisional Police Officer, Denton Police Division, CSP Adegoke Atilade, over the sex-in-the-office scandal and theft of his service pistol.
The Commissioner of Police also directed an independent and thorough investigation, which he said should be unbiased, into the case, in the interest of fairness and justice.
Police Public Relations Officer in the command, CSP Adekunle Ajisebutu, who disclosed this in a statement issued on Friday, September 10, 2021, said that the command was aware of the reported case of theft of service pistol against one Jenifer Madueke, and the allegation of sex in the office against the DPO, which was published in Punch newspaper on Friday.
According to the PPRO, “members of the public are hereby assured that appropriate actions will be taken against anyone found culpable at the conclusion of the ongoing investigation such that at the end, justice would have been served.”
He added that the deployment of the DPO, currently in the eye of the storm, by the Commissioner of Police, was to pave the way for diligent and unbiased investigation.
The Punch had reported that the command detained Madueke over a missing service pistol belonging to the D
DPO, CSP Akinlade.
The 29-year-old was said to have been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department, Yaba after spending three days in a detention facility at the Denton Police Station, Ebute Meta.
She was allegedly tortured to confess to the crime while in detention at Denton Police Station, Ebute Meta.
Madueke and Akinlade were said to have once dated and separated after the police officer was transferred out of Lagos over seven years ago.
According to PUNCH, a credible source said after the officer was posted back to Lagos, the lovers did not return to the relationship as they lost each other’s contacts but sometime in 2021, they met and exchanged phone numbers.
“That was when the DPO, who was married, proposed that they continue with the relationship.
“On Friday, August 27, he invited the lady to his office and slept with her till Saturday morning. He released her to go around 5am and even saw her off to the bus stop.
“They did not see each other again until last Saturday, September 4, when he invited the girl and told her they should go out.
“However, when she went to see him, he detained her and accused her of stealing his service pistol. He kept her in his cell till Monday, September 6. While the girl was in the cell, he asked his boys to torture her to make confessional statements.
“On that Monday, he took her to an herbalist on Jebba Street, Ebute Meta, around 8am. The herbalist told him that it was the girl that took the pistol, but she denied the allegation. It was from there he took her to the SCIID, Yaba, where she has been detained till now,” the source added.
PUNCH reported that on Tuesday, September 7, the police at the SCIID took the suspect to her house and ransacked the apartment with the hope of recovering the missing pistol.
The effort, however, failed as nothing was seen.
Another source claimed that the DPO was queried by the state Commissioner of Police, Hakeem Odumosu.
“But why is the CP leaving him in that position when he should have been removed by now? Is that not injustice?” the source queried.
Akinlade, who confirmed losing his pistol, however, insisted it was taken by Madueke, who he claimed also stole N50,000 from him.
He denied sleeping with her in his office or taking her to any herbalist.
The officer said, “She was my girlfriend in 2011, but we separated. About one and half months ago, while I was around the Stadium area, she came to greet me and that was how she knew where I was working and she started coming. When her coming did not favour me, I told her not to come again.
“On that Friday, I was at a club with one of my friends. It was there a girlfriend came to meet me. Then this lady came later. I never knew that she had a mission. I sent her away and said I was busy.
“The other lady with me told me that she was going to Bariga. She also came, but said she could not get a vehicle to her residence that night because it was late. I then left them (both ladies) in the office and went out on a night patrol.
“It was then I started thinking I would go back and wake them up. When I returned, I gave her N4,000 (transport fare) to go.”
Asked if he slept with Madueke, he said, “When two people are in my office? I did not sleep with her. I left them there. Unknown to me, she had gone to pick a bag behind my chair. It was when she left that I discovered that my pistol was missing with N50,000. I did not even care about the money, but I started calling her, and she did not pick the calls. She also blocked me on WhatsApp.
“We went to prayer houses and consulted alfas, me and the other girl, but we did not find her. I did not see her for one week. I paid people who tracked her.”
He said he regretted ‘helping’ Madueke that night when she claimed to be stranded, adding that after she was arrested, she denied taking the gun but admitted to ‘stealing’ N7,000 from the bag.
The officer said he reported at the SCIID and made statements on the theft in order to get detectives to recover the gun.
“I believe she will still say where the gun is,” he added.
