#EndSARS: Police shut out family, journalists from court as Erimosele’s trial begins

Policemen on Tuesday barred family members and friends of detained #EndSARS protester, Eromosele Adene, from gaining entry into the premises of the Yaba Magistrate’s Court, where the trial of the youth protester is expected to begin.

The police also prevented journalists and other supporters of the detained person from the courtroom as the operatives barricaded the street leading into the court with their vehicle.

The security operatives told journalists that they were trying to prevent a crowd from building up around the court.

Recall that policemen attached to the State Criminal Investigation Department had on Monday filed an application seeking to remand Adene for an extra 30 days.

Police had last week arrested Eromosele in Ikeja and taken him to the police command headquarters and then transferred him to the Area F Command before detaining him at the SCID, Panti. On Monday, last week, he was flown to Abuja and detained for seven days before being brought back to Lagos on Sunday.

But instead of charging him, the policemen secretly approached a Magistrate, O.A Salau, without the consent of his lawyer, and applied for a remand order to detain him for an extra 30 days.

Eromosele’s lawyer, Tunde Jinadu, who was at the SCID, was told by policemen that his client was no longer in custody.

Jinadu immediately received word from concerned persons about what the police were up to, saying, “We were not served. We were not called that he was being brought to SCID. An ACP told me they didn’t know where he was. This sharp practice of the police needs to stop. They just wanted to shut us out. That was how they flew him to Abuja last week without my knowledge.

“Luckily, some good people informed me that he (Eromosele) had been taken to a magistrate court. Thank God I have a car. I was able to quickly arrive at the court.”

The lawyer also said the police had refused to grant his client bail despite medical reports that Adene has a liver problem.

1stnewsonline