By PRISCILLA OSAJE

A senior lawyer, Mr Godwin Ogboji, has demanded the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Tunji Disu, to investigate the al’eged unlawful arrest and illegal detention of an 85-year-old Abubakar Aliyu, by one Mr Adesoye Ezekiel.

Ogboji, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), revealed this in a petition addressed to Nigeria’s police chief, and a copy made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Friday.

“I petition IGP Tunji Disu, demanding a full-scale, independent, and transparent investigation into the alleged unlawful arrest, illegal detention, brutal torture and violation of the fundamental rights of an 85-year-old Abubakar Aliyu, by an alleged land grabber, Adesoye Ezekiel.”

Ogboji also demanded the identification and punishment of all police officers involved in the alleged abuse of power and constitutional violation of the Abuja-based octogenarian.

The SAN alleged that his client was only employed to safeguard and watch over a property located at Lugbe 1 Extension Layout, FCT Abuja, which is under contention before the court.

He said the case was before a High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, sitting at Maitama, with Suit No: FCT/HC/CV/2123/25; and another suit No: FCT/HC/BW/CV/298/24 pending at the Bwari Division of the High Court in 2024.

He said while the octogenarian was on his duty post, Ezekiel and his police accomplices allegedly arrested him on March 24, 2026.

“Without any iota of moral rightness and in flagrant abuse of police powers caused the unlawful arrest and detention of our client.”

The senior lawyer alleged that his client was reportedly arrested like a common criminal, subjected to several days of harrowing detention under the most dehumanising, cruel, inhuman and degrading conditions imaginable.

“An 85-year-old man who has lived his entire life in honest service to others now lies in hospital, broken in body, mind and spirit, because a man decided to turn the machinery of state against him.

“The cause and effect of this arrest and detention have directly trampled upon the basic and fundamental human rights of our client, reducing an elderly man who has lived a life of honest service into a broken shadow of himself, his dignity stripped, his liberty unlawfully curtailed, and his very existence now hanging in the balance.

“Mr Abubakar Aliyu, on the very property he was lawfully employed to guard and the subject matter of pending cases where the said Mr Adesoye Ezekiel is a party, was whisked away like a common criminal.”

The SAN alleged that Aliyu was subjected to several days of harrowing detention under the most dehumanizing, cruel, inhuman and degrading conditions imaginable.

“He was kept in circumstances that were not only calculated to break his fragile spirit but to place his very life and existence in grave jeopardy, considering his age and health.”

“As a direct and foreseeable consequence of this unconstitutional arrest and barbaric treatment, our client, who already suffers from advanced hypertension and other age-related ailments, is currently in a critical state of ill-health.

“The sheer wickedness of targeting and brutalising an elderly security guard whose only “offence” was to faithfully protect his employer’s property has plunged the old man into a state of perpetual trepidation and fear for his life and existence.”

The senior lawyer said the 85-year-old victim was later admitted to a private hospital in Abuja, where he was currently undergoing treatment for many health complications. (NAN)