Human rights activist and lawyer, Chief Abdullahi Tony Dania, has commended the Nigeria Police, specifically the AIG in charge of FORCE CID, for the exercise of professionalism in the handling of a case of abduction and intimidation of a private contractor by the wife of a prominent politician and a private contractor.
This was contained in a letter written by the law firm Dania and Associates and addressed to the Assistant Inspector General of Police, Force CID, Headquarters Annexe, Alagbon Close, Ikoyi, Lagos. The “Letter of Commendation” dated August 14, 2024, was titled “Re: Conspiracy, Assault Occasioning Harm, Cheating Abduction, Threat to Life by Madam Christianah Akinboye, and Complaints Against VGC Police Post, Lekki, Dated August 7, 2024.”
Dania, stating the reason for the commendation, said: “We thank the Assistant Inspector General of Police, the Commissioner of Police, Homicide Section, the head of the investigating team, and the IPO involved in this present matter for being objective in investigating this case, despite the name-dropping by the suspect, and for not allowing your decisions to be affected by external or internal influences.”
The case in question arose from a disputed transaction between Alhaji Abdullahi Suleiman, owner and director of Sularin Homes and Properties (SHP), a client of Dania and Associates, and Mrs. Christiana Akingboye, wife of Otunba Bamidele Akingboye, the governorship candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in the forthcoming election in Ondo State.
The latter had contracted the former to supply and install lift elevators at her hotel, Andylux Hotels and Suites, located at Sangotedo in Ibeju Lekki, Lagos.
Their dispute started when Akingboye alleged a delay in the execution of the project and claimed an external technician she engaged to work on the already-installed lifts said the facility was fabricated and not original.She subsequently allegedly resorted to self-help by subjecting Suleiman and his wife, Arinola Oriadetu Suleiman, to abduction, harassment, and intimidation.
In the original petition written to the police, the law firm alleged the actions were carried out by Akingboye, her son, Akingboye Jr, I.E. Andy, managing director of the hotel, and four police officers who were the politician’s orderlies, among others. Dania and Associates in the petition had sought, on behalf of its clients, N500 million in damages for false imprisonment, assault, abduction, and seizure of a Lexus car, among others.
Outlining the substance of the case, the law firm affirmed in its letter: “The suspect equally confirmed and admitted that after she considered that the job was delayed, she was angry, that she visited the client office and physically seized the telephone handsets of some of our client’s staff and only released them at her house after several appeals. We consider this self-help, intimidation, and stealing by the same suspect.”
While not disputing her complaints, the law firm pointed out: “There are civil, legal, and procedural remedies provided by law. It is a notorious fact that every electronic or mechanical item is a result of fabrication by engineers, the same as a lift elevator. Complaints can be made if the quality of the component was intentionally compromised; then the aggrieved party has the option to report to the police or report to the son, Colin, or man. As seasoned lawyers, we shall not support substandard equipment in Nigeria.”
Dania and Associates also argued that it is not proper to make unsubstantiated assumptions without some supportive evidence and material facts. The lawyers pointed out that when materials used for the fabrication of products are found to be of inferior quality, it requires the engagement of an independent engineer (in this case, an expert with lift elevators) to conduct a comprehensive analysis and issue a consequent report.
The law firm, denouncing Akingboye’s subsequent reaction as ‘horrible criminal actions,’ stated:
“At gunpoint, our client was tortured, assaulted, molested, held against his will, forced to speak in video record to implicate himself, beaten, and threatened by the suspect and policemen at the hotel that if he did not say what they wanted him to say in the video, they would kill him right there. They started recording our client in a video, asking him questions, and getting him to make statements that are self-implicating, under duress against his wish.”
She was also accused of forcefully taking her victim to her house in Victoria Graden City, all the while torturing and threatening him in a video she subsequently circulated.
The video inadvertently caught the mirror in the sitting room, revealing the faces of the policemen who played a role in the abduction.
In the ordeal that lasted over six hours, she also allegedly tried to force her victim to retrieve some lift elevators earlier supplied to another customer in a different transaction. She reportedly drove to a mall where the elevator was installed with the intent to forcefully retrieve it. However, the manager of the mall in Sangotedo foiled the attempt.
She further reportedly took her captive to his residence at Cooperative Estate in Ajah and ordered him to report himself at her house the next day.
Suleiman, however, reported to the police and stayed out of his home. When she stormed his house the next day, oblivious that the case had been reported to the police, she threatened members of his family, including his children, who are minors.
The coming of the police into the picture brought sanity to the situation but raised questions about holding Akingboye accountable for her actions.As recounted by the law firm: “After being invited by the police, the suspect has been employing several tactics to retract and correct the aforesaid criminal actions she led. She lied that it was the OC of the police post at VGC that arrested our client, that the police at VGC seized the car of our client, and that the same police post was investigating a criminal complaint against our client. She has openly boasted that she will use her influence and connection to further deal with our client if he does not withdraw this instant criminal complaint against her, her son, the policemen, Mr. Andy, and Barrister Emma.”
Dania and Associate added: “She admitted before the CP that she deliberately lured our client to attend a meeting at the Andylux Hotel, but the following persons were already at the scene.”
The law firm, aside from accusing the four armed MOPOL officers (including a female officer) as complicit in the allegations, also accused Akingboye of deliberately feeding the police false information.
In unravelling the complexities of the case, Dania and Associates, in their letter, further stated that an ex-general manager of SHP, identified as Aisha Temitope Popoola, allegedly aided and abetted the suspects in perpetrating the said atrocities.
According to the law firm, “Our clients informed us that Aisha Temitope Popoola broke into their office and stole all confidential documents, deleted official documents on the computer, blocked our client’s entry point to their company website, made our client unreachable, and started circulating false information to our client customers. The same Aisha Temitope, alongside other staff, further connived with some Indians to set up a similar company and started spreading false information in order to covet all our clients’s customers.”
The alleged manipulation by Aisha Temitope and her cohorts against SHP led to some customers reporting to Zone 2 Police Command, DSS, and EFCC. The resultant investigations into four similar allegations against the company turned out to be false.
Dania, reflecting on the case so far, said: “Upon being arrested and investigated by the EFCC, our client was discovered to be absolutely innocent. We thank you for doing a good job. We assert that if our client is discovered to have given the police false information with intent, please prosecute him, but we urge you to thoroughly investigate this case and charge those found wanting to court.”
