Officers of the Ejigbo Police Station, Lagos has arrested one Idiahgbe Iyobosa, a riot policeman, for allegedly physically assaulting a 30-year-old woman Oluchukwu Ezemaduka.PUNCH reports that Iyobosa who is the estranged lover of Oluchukwu’s roommate Maryjane Anyagwa, repeatedly hit her (Oluchukwu) with his boots until she broke her jaw.
Oluchukwu, who is currently receiving treatment for her damaged jaw at West Care Specialist Hospital in Akowonjo, Lagos, said that he assaulted her after she told him that she didn’t know where Maryjane was.
Iyobosa had visited ther ladies’ apartment on Awoyemi Street, off Coker Road, Ejigbo on January 21 at about 9PM, with the aim of passing the night there, but only met Oluchukwu at home.
According to Oluchuwku:
I was not in the room when he came. As I was about to enter the room, I felt that somebody was there; I got a torch from a neighbour and shone it in the room. That was when I knew it was him. He had scattered everywhere.
He asked me where his girlfriend was, I didn’t answer him. He asked me the second time and I told him that I didn’t know her whereabouts. He kicked me several times with his boots, breaking my jaw. He brought out a dagger and chased me outside. It was people, who saved me.
The pain is too much for me. The doctor said I would undergo surgeries this week.
Their neighbour, Henry Okafor, said Iyobosa also attacked him that day when he cautioned him. “He just came from nowhere and started beating the lady. He also attacked me. I didn’t fight him because he was in uniform,” Okafor said.
Maryjane also claimed that Iyobosa assaulted her on several occasions, adding that after they started dating, she found out he was married.
“I was not around that day. When I came back the next morning, my neighbours told me that my boyfriend came to beat up my friend because he was looking for me. He thought she deliberately refused to disclose where I was.
He usually assault me too. Most times, he would not notify me that he would pass the night in my place. He would threaten to deal with me if I report him to the authorities or quit the relationship. I was afraid.
We started dating each other about a year ago. I later knew that he is married with two kids. The wife had warned me to stay away from her husband,” Maryjane said.
Speaking to PUNCH, the father of the victim, Mike Ezemaduka, said he was shocked after seeing the condition of his daughter at the hospital.
“It was a serious injury and she will undergo two surgeries, according to her doctor. The doctor said she needed to recuperate a little bit before he could carry out the surgeries. The lower jaw was broken. We were told that she would no longer be able to chew if she didn’t undergo the surgeries, which will cost about N700,000.
The policeman’s relatives have promised to pay the bill. My daughter is not his girlfriend; she has nothing to do with him at all. Why should he beat someone, whose room he barged into?” Ezemaduka queried.
The acting Police Public Relations Officer, Lagos State Command, ASP Olarinde Famous-Cole, in a text message, said “The incident was reported at the division for discreet investigation.”
