Residents of Ajibawo town, a rustic community in Ado Odo/Ota Local Government Area, Ogun State erupted in joy penultimate Tuesday. Their burst of excitement started around 9 am when the personnel of the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), Eleweran, Abeokuta, arrested a policeman, Inspector Moruf Ogunkunle, whose notoriety for brutalising residents was described as second to none.
Victory songs filled the air as residents expressed their relief at seeing the back of Ogunkunle when SCID operatives moved the policeman popularly called Ijaya out of the community.
According to the residents, Ogunkunle had been brutalising and terrorising them for issues that border on land grabbing, forcible invasion of property, assault, brutality as well as making amorous advances at women.
He was said to have built a torture chamber in his house where sources claimed he brutalised and detained residents without any recourse to the law.
The arrest of the controversial policeman followed a petition written by concerned residents to the Force Headquarters in Abuja. Some of his victims revealed how they were tortured and brutalised by the Inspector for several years until he allegedly assaulted a woman whose son he had beaten up unjustly.
When our correspondent visited the community, the Police Inspector was being moved out in a car to the state police command in Abeokuta.
On sighting the policemen who were in the town to effect his arrest, he was said to have hurriedly asked his daughter to hide his rifle behind his house, but the girl was intercepted by vigilant residents and the gun was recovered by SCID operatives.
One of his victims, Mrs Kehinde Odutola, said the policeman forcibly annexed her property and threatened to deal with her if she insisted on retrieving the property.
She said: “Inspector Ijaya (Ogunkunle) snatched my land, and when I protested, he vowed to ruthlessly deal with me and my children. I feared for my life and that of my children because I am a widow, hence, I left him to God.”
Mrs Deborah Adeboye, who is still nursing an injury she sustained in the mouth after her unfortunate encounter with Inspector Ogunkunle, said she was happy the policeman was finally arrested.
She said: “I sent my son to buy some fuel at a filling station and he was returning home when Ijaya almost ran over him with his car. Instead of showing remorse, he attacked my son and tried to drag him into a torture chamber he built in his house while my second son rushed home to inform me.
“I rushed to the scene to free my son from his grip and he ran into his house and he gave my son some hot slaps. His wife also joined him to further brutalise me and there was no one to rescue me and my son from him. He then rushed into his house, brought out an assault rifle and hit my mouth with the butt of the gun. I am still nursing the wound as you can see.”
She explained further her travails at the hands of Ogunkunle after she reported him to a nearby police station, noting that nothing was done by the station to reprimand the policeman.
She said: “I rushed to the nearest Atan Police Station to report the incident. While I was at the station, news got to me that Ijaya had led some thugs to my house. I had to quickly alert my children to leave the house and run for their dear lives.
“By the time I returned home, my entire apartment had been vandalised by Ijaya and his thugs while some money kept at home were nowhere to be found. I am happy that he has been arrested and I want to urge the police authorities not to ever allow him to get away with his atrocities.
“He had dealt with several men and women who dared challenge his atrocities, all in the name of being a policeman.”
Another victim of Ogunkunle identified as Apostle Balogun said the injury the policeman inflicted on him was yet to heal several months after.
He recalled how Ogunkunle brutalised him on his way from a naming organised by one of the youth leaders of a section of the town, Mr Olusesi Ganiyu.
Apostle Balogun said: “Inspector Ijaya, also known as Gbasifun, is the reason for my recurring excruciating pain.
“It happened that I was returning from a naming organised by a youth leader called Olusesi Ganiyu when he attacked me for removing an object he used to mount a blockade of the road.
“He pounced on me, broke my leg and used an electric shocker to torture me until I fell into a gutter and sustained an injury in the back. As I speak, my back aches as a result of the injury and it has become a yearly problem.
“I reported him at the Atan Police Station but nothing was done to contain his recklessness. But I told him that his day of reckoning would come sooner than he expected.
“A few days later, I had left home when he led his thugs to my residence and beat up my children. He would apprehend men and women and subject them to corporal punishment in his torture chamber at his residence, and no one dared challenge him for fear of being detained or brutalised.’’
Notable community leaders and residents urged the police and state government to save them from Ogunkunle’s grip. They noted that his return to the community might trigger violence as they are more determined to put him in check following his threats to avenge his arrest while he was being taken away from the community.
A former chieftain of one of the community development associations in the town, Chief Muibi Adebakin, described Ogunkunle’s arrest as a reprieve for hapless residents who have had to reluctantly tolerate his atrocities and oppressive actions over the years.
“Inspector Ogunkunle a.k.a. Ijaya has taken me to the police stations at different times in a bid to run me out of this town. He is the reason why I quit my position as a CDA chairman when he orchestrated a campaign of calumny against me in a bid to take over as the chairman.
“Unfortunately, his tenure was inglorious leading to his controversial removal from office.
“About one month ago, he took the wife of one of the youth leaders to Ilaro Police Division and detained the woman at the station simply because her husband cautioned him against subjecting innocent residents to torture, brutality and unlawful detention all in the name of being a policeman.
‘’We are glad that he has finally been arrested and we are urging the police and state government to ensure that he’s subjected to extant punishment for his indiscretions which were detailed in the petition that led to his arrest.’’
Another community leader, Mr Haleem Asiegun, also said his arrest was a big relief for residents as Inspector Ogunkunle’s brutality against residents has led to the exit of many landlords and tenants from the community.
Asiegun noted that Ogunkunle had turned his home into a police station where he held court and punished his perceived opponents and victims, most of whom he tortured based on phantom allegations.
“He turned his house into a police station where he detained and tortured hapless residents, including women. He used rifle or gun to harass people without being restrained or cautioned by the police, especially at the nearest station.
“There is a torture chamber in his house where he usually drags residents into at gunpoint to brutalise them there.
“He would orchestrate the arrest of community leaders and detained them at will. He would also bring operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) to harass, intimidate, extort and arrest people who refuse to give him money while building their houses in this community.
“He would boast in Yoruba that he has gba si fun (rope in or dealt with) his victims by detaining them on false allegations.
“We are therefore happy that he has been apprehended today and we want to appeal to Ogun police authorities to do the needful by reining him in to check his atrocities so we can live in peace in this community.’’
A woman, Mrs Damilola Akinkuowo, recalled how Ogunkunle assaulted her after she turned down his love advances, saying: “The electricity supply to my residence was unlawfully disconnected on the orders of Inspector Ijaya (Ogunkunle). When I protested, he collected my mobile phone number on the pretext that he would fix the problem, but I never knew that he wanted to lure me into an affair with him.
“The next day, he called me on the phone around 1 am. He said he was waiting outside for me. I refused to honour his invitation and subsequently switched off my phone.
“The following morning, he stormed my house and met me outside talking with some neighbours. Before I knew it, he held me by my throat and assaulted me while the people around all fled out of fear.
“He accused me of disrespecting him by hanging up the phone on him and turning down his invitation at 1 am. He left scars on my body because he hit me with a plank.”
The spokesman of Ogun State Police Command, Mr Abimbola Oyeyemi, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), said Ogunkunle’s arrest was in line with the no nonsense policy of the command, adding that the controversial Inspector would be subjected to Orderly Room Trial and dealt with according to the law if found guilty of the allegations.
“Ogun State Police Command under the leadership of Commissioner of Police, CP Kenneth Ebrimson, would not condone acts of indiscipline by any police officer.
“To this end, there are appropriate procedures for reprimanding errant officers and I can assure you that the said Inspector (Ogunkunle) will face an Orderly Room Trial and appropriate disciplinary action and punishment would be meted out to him if he is found culpable,” Oyeyemi said.
