Nigerian Police Force: ”We are not aware of Busola Dakolo’s petition”
The Nigerian Police Force have stated that they are not aware of any petitioned filed before them by Busola Dakolo against COZA senior pastor, Biodun Fatoyinbo who she accused of raping her when she was a teenager.
It will be recalled that on Saturday, July 20th, Busola’s husband, Timi Dakolo raised an alarm on social media after he spotted strange men with gun inside a bus in front of his house.
It was later discovered that the gun men were a team of police officers from Abuja who had come to deliver a letter to him and his wife to come forward for questioning as there is a case of criminal conspiracy, falsehood and threat to life filed against them.
Timi at a press conference he held in Lagos yesterday, said Busola on June 27th, filed a petition against Fatoyinbo within the Lagos state police command, a day before her explosive interview with YNaija was released.
The cool dad-of-three wondered why the police had not acted on her petition or invited Biodun Fatoyinbo for questioning but were quick to act on the clergyman’s petition and invited them for questioning.
In a fresh interview with The Nation, a police officer at the force headquarters in Abuja who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the force is unaware of any petition from Mrs Dakolo.
According to the source, the first petition received is that from Fatoyinbo and that they acted immediately the petition was received. The policeman said:
READ ALSO: Timi Dakolo & Wife, Busola Hold Press Conference To Address The Ongoing COZA Rape Saga | WATCH
“We are not aware that she wrote any letter. If she tells us that the matter was already reported at Alagbon, we will confirm it and take up the matter from there but as it stands now, we are not aware of that.
We are also not aware that the case is in court. We treated the first petition that came to us and what we did was just to invite; and the invitation is optional. If she likes, she can refuse to honour it or not and according to our men who were on ground yesterday, she said she will honour the invitation on Wednesday.
We gave a date and she said the date was not convenient and she chose another date. If it is by force, will she give date?”
Giving reasons why the letter was issued, he said:
“We wrote because there was complaint and anybody who complains, constitutionally, we have the right to invite. It is left for the invited person to come or not.
“I don’t see the reason for making so much noise about this at all. I am not saying the matter at hand is not serious but I feel there are other important issues that need our attention as a nation. It is merely an invitation; it is not as if our operatives killed anybody.
On why they decided to go with a bus to deliver an ordinary invitation letter, he said:
“The operatives were from Abuja. We do not expect them to go on foot. Going with the bus does not mean anything.”
The source however disclosed that Mrs Dakolo has agreed to honor the invitation on Wednesday July 24th. The letter of invitation from the police signed by Kolo Yusuf, a Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) in the IGP Special Tactical Squad, reads:
“This office is investigating a case of criminal conspiracy, falsehood and a threat to life that your name was mentioned.
“You are kindly requested to (attend an) interview (with) the undersigned officer on July 23 at 1000 hours (10 a.m) for fact-findings through DSP Agu with telephone number 08037864191.”
Dakolo narrated what happened on Saturday, saying:
“On Saturday in the early afternoon, I had notice a tinted bus parked near our home. I did not know that at the same time, my wife was being followed by a car into the estate.
“She noticed the car and out of fear, parked her car to be sure that her fear was not real – but it was. Every time she parked, the car parked and she decided that she should rush home quickly, since she was near the house.
“When she got onto the street, she noticed the same bus I had seen earlier and saw that someone from the car that was following her signalled to the bus, at which point three armed policemen wearing SARS vests surrounded her car, demanding for her to come down. The door of the bus was open and she saw that the bus was full of armed policemen.
“She immediately called her lawyer and when the policemen heard that she was talking to a legal representative, they stepped back and claimed that they were only there to drop a letter; they had not said this before nor shown her the letter.”
He added that Falana & Falana’s law chambers will reply the police today on the family’s behalf.
“As far as we know, Mr Fatoyinbo has not been questioned on the strength of my wife’s petition – even after several invitations by the police that we have honoured.
“However, we have been invited to Abuja to respond to queries on actions that are not crimes known under any Nigerian law – ‘mischief’ and ‘falsehood’ are not crimes; we were not given details of the supposed case.
“My wife has detailed how Pastor Biodun Fatoyinbo of the Commonwealth of COZA allegedly raped her when she was a teenager in his church in Ilorin… We submitted a petition to the IGP to investigate. And up till now the police have not responded.”