When Ajana Olujide, a legal practitioner handed over his car to 2 trusted mechanics at a workshop near his home in Abijo GRA, Lagos, he expected to have it back the next morning in better condition. What he didnโt expect was a phone call in the middle of the night from the Police, and a nearly month-long battle to free his car and save 2 innocent men from prison.
What happened over the next 22 days would uncover a dark and painful truth many Nigerians already fear โ that in the wrong hands, a police uniform can become a weapon of oppression, not protection.
Recounting the ordeal, Olujide said: โIโm a lawyer. And I was nearly broken by what I faced. I can only imagine what would have happened if these mechanics had no one to fight for them.โ
It all began on April 1. The 2 mechanics were test-driving Olujideโs Ford Explorer around 11 p.m. when officers from the Elemoro Police Division stopped them. By 1 a.m., Olujideโs phone wouldnโt stop ringing. When he finally picked up, he was told the men had been arrested for driving what the Police claimed was a โsuspected stolen vehicleโ. (Vanguard)