The Lagos State Police Command has dismissed reports accusing it of locking up a Magistrate in a cell.
“No Magistrate was locked up by any Police officer under the command; there’s nothing like that anywhere,” the command’s spokesman, Mr Benjamin Hundeyin, said in a statement issued in Lagos on Thursday.
He was reacting to a story published by an online medium which accused the police of hounding a Lagos Magistrate into a cell at the Area D Command.
“The story is pure fiction; the Command wishes to state clearly that at no time did the Area Commander detain or attempt to detain the Magistrate, who was at the Area Command for cell inspection exercise.
“The Police will never engage in such disrespect to the Judiciary. That the writer referred to a serving Magistrate as ‘the innocent woman’ says a lot about his objectivity/bias and contrived efforts at sensationalism.
“The writer could not provide the name of the magistrate, who is a public officer. It is equally suspicious that the writer made no attempt to contact the judiciary to verify the purported detention.”
Hundeyin said that the Command had done the needful by contacting the Lagos judiciary.
According to him, the Lagos State Judiciary confirmed that there was no such thing and neither was the Magistrate prevented from carrying out her cell inspection exercise.
“We hereby state it unequivocally that any attempt to cause disaffection between the Police and the Judiciary will be fiercely resisted.
“We remain worthy partners in the judicial sector.
“The Lagos State Police Command enjoins Lagos residents to disregard the story as officers and men under the stewardship of CP Abiodun Alabi will continue to be professional and uphold the rule of law at all times,” he said.