*Officers identified, says PRO
A human rights activist from Southern Cameroon, Tse Anye Kevin, has said that he went through hell and treated like animals animal by officers of Zone 2 Command.
Kevin was arrested, suffered severe physical abuse, and illegal detention.
Kevin, a pan-Africanist, trade unionist, and former Vice President of the Confederation of Cameroonian Trade Unions, harrowing ordeal said to have begun in the early hours of October 2, 2024, when heavily armed officers from the Nigeria Police Department’s Zone 2, Onikan, Lagos Island, stormed his home.
According to Kevin, five officers, without prior notice or a search warrant, arrived at his residence at approximately 6:00.a.m that day.
Upon hearing a voice outside his door, he cautiously began unlocking it, only for the officers to forcefully barge in before the key had fully turned.
He said he was greeted with slaps and severe beatings, the confusion unfolded, the officers reportedly interrogated him, demanding to know the whereabouts of his alleged gang members and weapons.
“They shouted questions like, ‘Where is your gun? Where are you hiding the weapons? Where are the other gang members?’ I was shocked and kept telling them I had no weapons, no gang, and that I wasn’t a kidnapper,” Kevin said.
Despite his protests, the officers allegedly threatened him with torture. One officer warned Kevin that if he didn’t confess to the charges, he would be taken to a torture chamber where they would “hang him, peel his skin, and force him to confess.”
Kevin said that later that evening, he was transferred to an overcrowded jail cell, where about 43 other inmates were crammed into a space of just 4 square meters.
He said there was no room to sleep, and he was practically suffocating, endured further beatings while in custody.
The assault left him with severe head pain, body aches, and eye distress, for which he is now seeking medical attention.
He said: “Due to the severe physical assault, I struggled to maintain clear thoughts and cannot recall everything I said during the ordeal.
“I was handcuffed while the officers searched my room and seized my laptop, documents, and phones. They then took me, still in handcuffs, to their headquarters at Zone 2, Onikan, Lagos Island.
He told The Guardian: “I went through hell in the hands of the police. I was in the hospital yesterday and I’m on medication because of my eyes and my head. I wonder how many innocent people going through the same ordeal or have suffered the consequences of the action melted on me. This calls for actions to be taken towards establishing policies that are for human beings. Afterall, the world is for human and not for animals and barbaric act.
He added: “The torture I received is not the torture human beings deserve. The act is disgusting and I condemn it in the strongest term. To compel someone to confess to the offense he did not commit, being tortured and threatened is the height of the matter.
When asked if he would consider legal action, he said: “There are natural law to every action people take. Either you experience it in your lifetime or generations will suffer for it, that is my action.
When The Guardian reached out to the Public Relations Officer of Zone 2 Command Headquarters, Lagos, Ayuba Tunni Umma, she said: “He is currently with us and we have been able to identify the officers and we are on the case.
