The Lagos State Police Command has detained Yoruba movie star, Damola Olatunji for recording and confronting policemen who allegedly assaulted him and his Personal Assistant, Timileyin Salawu, at Abule-Egba, a suburb of Lagos.
Olatunji who is also the Chairman of the Nigerian Guild of Movie Directors (TAMPAN), made the news on Monday after he captured the incident live on Instagram and showed the faces of the policemen involved in the unprofessional conduct.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CXtonYajhod/
Olatunji said the policemen forcefully took his phone while he was recording them and also slapped his P.A.
He also accused the policemen of extorting people of their “hard-earned money”.
The actor added that there were good policemen in Nigeria but the ones he encountered were the bad ones.
Shortly after the video went viral, Olatunji and Salawu were arrested. They were detained at Area P Police Command where they spent the night.
According to reports, Olatunji was charged to court for alleged public incitement and assaulting a police officer.
“They were both detained at Area P in Ipaja last night. The ridiculous allegation was that they recorded and documented police activity and it is tantamount to inciting the public against the police, stating that #EndSARS started the same way.
“They claimed the Commissioner of Police ordered them to detain him since last night and he was put in a cell in a very dehumanising state.
“His wife and other family members as well as many of his colleagues in the movie industry including a lawyer that came to join him yesterday have all been waiting at the gate of the police station since morning without having access to him,” a source told SaharaReporters.
In the now deleted viral video posted by the actor, the police officers were also seen throwing tear gas canisters at the masses who had gathered around the scene.
Olatunji was granted bail on Tuesday after his arraignment in court.
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