Edo Police invade a party in Ekpoma, brutalise 60 students, demand 20,000 Naira bail from each.

Edo Police invade a party in Ekpoma, brutalise 60 students, demand 20,000 Naira bail from each

.

Over 50 males and females were arrested yesterday at His Banner Hotel in Ekpoma by the anti-cultist unit of the Edo State police command.

A party was organized by a student simply identified as Chima, the daughter of a popular pastor who also has a machine spare parts store along Dova road in Ekpoma

It was gathered that the men of the anti-cultist division stormed the party, brutalized the invitees, arrested the DJ and tied them all together before throwing them into their van.

They were taken to the police station where as at the time of filing this report, many are yet to be freed until they bailed themselves with N20,000-N25,000 per person.

According to the information gathered from the DJ who lamented the ill treatment himself and his boy received, the policemen ordered them to take off their clothes and used cutlass to beat them up as they were led to cell.

The DJ who was still at the police station as at the time of filing this report said: “I was at His Banner Hotel yesterday afternoon where i was playing the birthday i booked. After sometime, a group of anti-cultist from Edo State entered the hotel hall and started harassing all of us. They took our phones, slapped most of the invitees and they came to my stand to identify myself which i did.  Despite my identification, they tied us together with our shirts and ordered us to enter their Hilux bus and vehicle they brought.

“When we arrived at the station, they told us to pull off our wears of which we obeyed without complain. To my greatest surprise, they were still using cutlass, hammer and slapped to beat everybody. Later, they put us inside the cell between 6-7pm and we slept till this afternoon until my mom ran to borrow some money to bail us.

“Others who are yet to raise money are still in the cell. We were up to 60 of us. Even my own boy that followed me to the show, they used cutlass and other things to beat him as if he was a criminal. I just gave him some money to buy drugs now.”

Asked whether the people were actually cultist, the DJ said “I can only speak for myself and my boy, but the way the event was going yesterday, there was nothing like fighting or anything like cultism which the police accused us of.”

Another eye witness who spoke with newsmen said “The police ransacked and arrested everyone at the party. They said they were cultists and it was a birthday party. A girl did her birthday party and my colleague was arrested along with them.

“More than 50 people were arrested. They were only celebrating a birthday party. It was organized at Erhomo at His Banner Hotel and the DJ and his boy were forced to bail themselves with N21,500.”

Contacted for reaction, the Edo Police control number +2348077773721 was called at 09.17 to 09.21 hours on Tuesday but an unfriendly and incoherent Police officer refused to give information and dropped the phone on our reporter.

But when contacted for comments at 09.45 hours, the Police PRO said he was not yet aware of the arrest but said that anyone who was a victim, asked to pay any money as bail to police, should lay a complain to him on 08034684673.