The Police in Ekiti have freed Toyin Adeyeye, the American returnee who was arrested and detained by the Police Command after being brutalized for refusing to bribe policemen at a checkpoint.
A family source who confirmed this in Ado Ekiti on Sunday, said that the woman was released to her husband late Saturday night on administrative bail.
According to the source, Toyin’s husband, Akanni Adeyeye has taken her to a private hospital in the Ado Ekiti for the treatment of bruises on her body, as well as the trauma she suffered in the hands of the police.
Toyin and her two month old baby, along with her brother, were detained from Friday up till Saturday night, before being released.
Abdullahi Chafe, the Ekiti state police commissioner accused Toyin of slapping one of his men at a checkpoint and tearing his uniform.
Chafe spoke in a reaction to the social media outrage against the policemen for brutalising the woman.
Chafe said Toyin committed the offence at the checkpoint when she was asked to prove the ownership of the car in which she was being driven.
“Those people slapped my policeman on duty and tore his uniform. Uniform is an authority and what those people did was against the law and it is not good for a civilian to slap a policeman
“It is not good for somebody to prevent a law enforcement officer from carrying out his lawful duty, somebody wearing the uniform? It is not about his age but the authority he carries, I don’t allow my men to do something contrary to the law
“I don’t want a woman to be detained with baby or with pregnancy, I don’t want an old woman or a minor to be detained. I have taken note of this and we will take the right action on the matter as investigation continues”, he said.
The husband of the woman, Akanni Adeyeye refuted the police claim, saying his wife and her brother were beaten up and detained for refusing to offer bribe to the policemen at the checkpoint.
He told newsmen that about five policemen on duty at the checkpoint beat them up before taking them to the New Iyin Police Station where they are being detained.
He said the police also impounded the black Kia Picanto car with registration number LAGOS FKJ 221 EE conveying them.
He claimed that the policemen requested for vehicle particulars and driver’s licence of his brother-in-law who drove the car and found them to be up to date.
Governor Ayodele Fayose has meanwhile, called for an independent enquiry over the incident.
Meanwhile, Governor Ayo Fayose on Sunday night announced his government’s interest in the case of a woman beaten by some policemen in Ado Ekiti on Friday.
Fayose who made this known while speaking on a monthly public enlightenment programme, “The Governor Explains,” disclosed that an investigation panel has been set up to probe what actually transpired between the woman and the police.
He said the investigation will unravel the policemen that beat the woman, stressing that he was particularly disturbed by media reports linking policemen to the alleged beating of the woman, Toyin Adeyeye, despite her status as a nursing mother.
He described as regrettable, the police action, coming barely two weeks after the state celebrated Women’s Day with fanfare.
The governor declared that the law on violence against women still subsists in the state, and that the law would be applied as appropriate in this matter.
