A Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Godwin Ogboji, has submitted a petition to the inspector-general of police (IGP) over the alleged unlawful arrest, detention, and torture of Abubakar Aliyu, an 85-year-old security guard.
In the petition dated March 26, 2026, Ogboji accused Adesoye Mayowa Ezekiel of misusing police processes to facilitate Aliyu’s arrest. The elderly guard was reportedly employed to protect properties belonging to Halima Mahmoud in Lugbe, Abuja.
The lawyer claimed that despite ongoing civil cases before the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) high court in Maitama and the Bwari division, Ezekiel allegedly involved police officers to arrest and detain Aliyu.
“A few days ago, precisely on 24th March 2026… Mr Adesoye Mayowa Ezekiel… caused the unlawful arrest and detention of our client, Abubakar Aliyu,” the petition stated.
“Our client, an elderly man, was whisked away like a common criminal, subjected to several days of harrowing detention under the most dehumanising, cruel, inhuman and degrading conditions imaginable.”
Ogboji noted that Aliyu’s health has worsened following the incident, highlighting that he suffers from hypertension and other age-related conditions. He described the arrest as an abuse of police authority in a matter already before the courts.
“It is a trite and settled law, one repeatedly affirmed by the superior courts, supported by extant provisions of the Nigerian Police Act, 2020, precisely sections 4, 32(2) and 36, that land disputes and purely civil matters as a whole are matters which the police have no business with. The proper forum for such civil disputes is a court of competent jurisdiction, not the police station,” he said.
The senior lawyer accused Ezekiel and unnamed officers of “gross abuse of police process”, unlawful arrest, torture, and “flagrant violation of fundamental human rights”.
He added that the actions “have directly trampled upon the basic and fundamental human rights of our client, reducing an elderly man who has lived a life of honest service into a broken shadow of himself, his dignity stripped, his liberty unlawfully curtailed, and his very existence now hanging in the balance.”
Ogboji urged the IGP to investigate and sanction those involved, as well as prosecute Ezekiel and others linked to the incident. He said such action would deter “land grabbers who routinely weaponise the police against innocent and vulnerable citizens”.
He also demanded “the immediate cessation of any ongoing or threatened arraignment of our client and cause his full medical bills and rehabilitation to be defrayed by the perpetrators.”
The lawyer further called on the police to “provide necessary protection to our client and the property and all parties to prevent further harassment and intimidation while the suits remain pending before the high court.”
He stressed the need for authorities to “take all necessary steps to restore and safeguard the fundamental human rights of our client as guaranteed by the constitution.”
Ogboji appealed for swift intervention, describing the situation as both a constitutional and moral responsibility.
“This act of wickedness cannot be allowed to stand in a democratic society governed by the rule of law,” he said.
“We trust in the constitutional responsibility and professional integrity of the Nigeria Police Force under your distinguished leadership to intervene decisively and uphold the sanctity of the law.”