I Had No Place To Sleep, Was Starved By Police For Four Days – YRC National Coordinator, Micheal Lenin Narrates Terrible Conditions, Torture Faced In Cell

Micheal Adaramoye (Lenin), one of the detained #EndBadGovernance protest leaders, who has been released on bail, has recounted his experience in the hands of the Nigerian police.

Micheal who is the National Coordinator of the Youth Rights Campaign (YRC) stated this during a X space hosted by Hetty Dre and the Youth Rights Campaign on Saturday.  

“My first night at the police cell was quite terrible, the first night, we were told we would be placed in a new cell but the conditions were terrible.

“You could imagine what the old cell looks like,” he noted.

He noted that when he was taken to the Intelligence Response Team (IRT) detention facilities, the officers on ground complained about the state of the country and noted that he was right with his action. 

“We were lined up and questioned. The police officers even lamented the state of the country and they didn’t torture me in the sense of touching me."

He noted that many persons in the cell lamented their gory conditions, the torture they had experienced among others. It was also noted that overcrowding was a major problem in the society.

“We were about 30 in my cell room. People were crying in cell, they stated that the police do not care, they torture different people and we have them in different conditions.”

“Some have smelling wounds, it was noted that some persons can be killed by the police without any recourse. There was so much overcrowding in the cell and we barely had where to sleep. Infact when I arrived, there was nowhere to sleep in the cell. I slept beside a guy who had rashes on his body and lice because that was the only place available to sleep and no one wanted to sleep near him. I couldn’t even breathe properly, neither could I turn while sleeping”.

Lenin also noted that the police literally starved those in the cell, while they collected money from different visitors to the cell without delivering to those they are meant for.

“For the large part of the four days, I was without food. On the third day that they brought food , that was a meal. Many times, officers collect money meant for people and failed to give it to those meant for.”

This is even as they denied him access to his lawyer several times during his detention.

He noted that when he cited the document given to him to study in the absence of his lawyer, he knew that he knew that the government had no case against the protesters that were detained and remanded in prison custody. 

Lenin also noted that after the court ordered his release on bail, his bank accounts had remained frozen.

He also accused the police authorities of tampering with his phone which had been collected from him upon arrest. 

Micheal stated that the police ransacked his phone, checking every bit of details even to his personal messages and other files.

It would be recalled that Micheal Adaramoye was arrested during the #Endbadgovernance protests, he was detained afterwards and was only released after posting a N10million bail, one surety in like sum and a landed property.

Justice Emeka Nwite had earlier granted the bail on September 11, Micheal was however not released up until October 4, largely due to the stringent bail conditions.

The #Endbadgovernance protesters were accused of treason, intimidation of the president, incitement to mutiny, destabilization of the country and other crimes.

The protests were against bad governance and poor state of the country’s economy.

The arrest and subsequent detainment of Micheal and other #Endbadgovernance protesters came with widespread condemnation from local and international quarters.