Willam Kayode
On Wednesday, November 19, 2025, the Save the Poor and Needy Charity Initiative (SPANCI) petitioned the Inspector General of Police (IGP) over the alleged unlawful arrest and detention of an Ogbomoso-based farm manager, Mr. Adetunji Muritala Raji, accusing operatives of the Nigeria Police Force, Zone 5 Headquarters, Edo State, of converting a civil business disagreement into a criminal case.
In the petition signed by SPANCI President, Comrade Dr. Bello Yemi Ezekiel, JP, the group alleged that Mr. Raji was arrested without justification and detained for several days in violation of his constitutional rights.
According to SPANCI, the dispute began when Mr. Raji assisted Miss Alimi Adeyinka Nafisat, who resides abroad, in purchasing parcels of land and securing a herder to tend her cattle in Ogbomoso. Trouble reportedly began after the herder allegedly absconded with the cows.
Miss Nafisat, through her intermediary, Miss Aisha Ibrahim, allegedly demanded that Mr. Raji’s uncompleted building be taken or sold to recover her investment. Raji’s employer, Alhaja Shukrah Shokoya, later intervened and facilitated a civil settlement agreement.
Despite this agreement, Mr. Raji was allegedly tracked and arrested at Access Bank, Apake, Ogbomoso, around 10am on Friday, November 14, 2025, by Officer Abdulkareem Sanni of the Owode Area Command, who reportedly claimed to be acting on a court order that was never shown.
He was detained in Oyo State until Tuesday, November 18, before being transferred to Zone 5 Headquarters in Benin City, Edo State, where he is said to remain in custody. The petition alleges that he is being pressured to make statements favourable to Miss Nafisat.
SPANCI argued that officers of Zone 5 acted outside their jurisdiction, stressing that the entire dispute occurred in Ogbomoso, Oyo State. The group cited alleged violations of Sections 34(1)(a), 35 and 36 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), the Police Act 2020, and the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) 2015.
It called on the IGP to order a full investigation, sanction any officers found culpable, and secure the immediate release of Mr. Raji, insisting that he had been held in “unlawful detention.”
As of press time, the Nigeria Police Force had not issued an official response.
FULL PETITION
The IGP
Force Headquarters
Abuja.
Dear Sir,
Urgent petition against an act of lack of jurisdiction, unprofessional conduct, unlawful arrest and detention, police harassment and conversion of a civil matter to a criminal matter, violation of Sections 34(1)(a), 35 and 36 of the CFRN 1999 (as amended), Section 37 and 32(2) of the Police Act 2020, and Section 8(2) ACJA 2015, perpetrated by some men of the Nigeria Police Force, Zone 5 Edo State, and one Miss Alimi Adeyinka Nafisat against Mr. Adetunji Muritala Raji.
We have the consent of Mr. Adetunji Muritala Raji, hereinafter referred to as our client, to write this letter so that his rights might be protected by law.
Our client told us and we verily believe his information to be true and correct as follows:
That he is working as a manager in a farm in Ogbomoso owned by Alhaja Shukrah Shokoya, an Ogbomoso indigene, without any history of crime.
That Miss Alimi Adeyinka Nafisat engaged his services to buy some pieces of land and also get somebody for her to look after her cows, and he did so behind his boss, Alhaja Shukurah Shokoya.
That he bought the land and got a herdsman to help her look after her cows, and called her to send her family member for inspection. One Mr. Lukman was mentioned, but the man was not serious about the monitoring until the herdsman went away with the cows in the name of herding around for green pasture till now.
That she insisted, through Miss Aisha Ibrahim who she chose as intermediary, that Mr. Adetunji’s uncompleted building be taken as replacement or that he should sell it and pay her money instead of the land and missing cows. But Alhaja Shukurah Shokoya, who is our client’s boss, came in and said she would save the situation but our client should make a legal agreement for her because they both did the transaction behind her and it has backfired.
That our client agreed and entered into the legal agreement with Alhaja Shukurah Shokoya, who reached out to Aisha Ibrahim whom Miss Nafisat used as a middle person or representative to negotiate, as she could not speak to Alhaja Shukurah because of guilty conscience over betraying her by engaging Mr. Adetunji, her manager, without her consent.
That to his surprise, he was tracked and arrested at Access Bank, Apake, Ogbomoso, and moved to Owode Area Command and detained by one Officer Abdulkareem Sanni (08032779966), who claimed to be the IPO, around 10am Friday 14/11/2025 to Tuesday 18/11/2025, claiming he was acting on a court order which Nigeria Police Force Zone 5, Edo State, claimed to have.
That he told him the matter is civil of business transaction and contractual dealings bothering on land and rearing cows after he confessed he was to detain him for the men of Zone 5, Edo, to come and pick him on Monday 17/11/2025.
That Mr Adetunji was moved to Zone 5, Edo, on Tuesday 18/11/2025 and is still there as of Wednesday 19/11/2025. Here is the contact of the officer who has been calling from Edo (08034542516).
That he has been coerced and will still be coerced to make an implicating statement or undertaking in favour of Miss Nafisat, who lives in London, but information says she will be around tomorrow to make her demand before any further actions are taken on our client.
That Zone 5 later claimed that Miss Nafisat sent ₦100 million to him in Edo State and that Mr. Raji lives in Edo State in order to manufacture jurisdiction, which is a lie and cannot be proved with any bank statement, as Mr. Adetunji and Miss Nafisat never lived in Edo State nor transacted any business there, but only in Ogbomoso.
Our beliefs are:
That the men of Zone 5 lack jurisdiction to effect arrest in Ogbomoso where our client lives, and where the said land and cows were being reared, and the hometown of the police complainant.
That the men of Zone 5 are working outside jurisdiction because of interest and in favour of Miss Nafisat to turn a civil matter to a criminal matter of stealing and conversion because our client did not commit any crime whatsoever in Edo State or anywhere under their jurisdiction.
That even if our client truly committed any crime based on the said report, only Owode Area Command, Oyo State Command, and Zone 11 have such jurisdiction.
That the conduct of the men of Zone 5, Edo, is unprofessional and a pure violation of Sections 34(1)(a), 35 and 36 of the fundamental human rights of our client as in the CFRN, Section 37 and 32(2) of the Police Act 2020, and Section 8(2) ACJA 2015.
That the Inspector General of Police has warned the police against violating the fundamental rights of citizens and assuming jurisdiction on civil matters of such nature.
That the police is not a debt-redeeming or money-recovery agency but only for crime and to maintain law and order.
Our requests are:
Serious investigation on this matter and that anyone found guilty be made to face the law.
That our client be released immediately, having stayed many days in such unlawful detention.
That justice be done and seen to be done on the matter.
We have some documents and proofs to provide.
Thanking you in anticipation.
Sincerely yours,
E: Signed by me
Comrade Dr. Bello Yemi Ezekiel JP
President, Save the Poor and Needy Charity Initiative (SPANCI)
08127381592 or 09033527414
CC: The PRO, Nigeria Police Force Headquarters, Abuja.