Police, NSCDC officials clash over Ogun Speaker, ex-lover’s case

Hell was let loose, at the Customary Court sitting in Agbe’loba area of Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, on Thursday, when men of the Nigerian Police and Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) clashed over a court judgment.

The judgment was in a case involving the Speaker of the Ogun State House of Assembly, Suraj Adekunbi.

Adekunbi’s ex-lover, who is also an NSCDC official, Iyabo Adedotun, had filed a suit in the court alleging threat to her life by the Speaker.

She also alleged that the Speaker prevented her from marrying another man and that he was not meeting up on his responsibilities on the only child, Samiat, produced by their relationship.

Adedotun had prayed the court to restrain the speaker from further threat to her life and to allow her marry‎ another man of her choice while the speaker prayed the court for her daughter to be returned to his custody.

But at the court sitting on Thursday, the three-man panel unanimously ordered the return of the child to the custody of the Speaker.

The court also set aside their relationship which had lasted for 10 years and also ruled that all parties to the case should be free to marry any person of their choice.

Immediately the verdict was delivered, the complainant resisted and engaged in altercation with the ‎court officials, alleging that they were compromised by the Speaker.

In the ensuing melee, the complainant and an unidentified NSCDC officer who had accompanied her, attempted to stop the court officials from handing over the child to the Speaker, who left the premises immediately after the judgment.

A police officer within the court premises invited his colleagues from a nearby police station while the NSCDC officers also contacted their colleagues who also stormed the court.

The situation got rowdy as attempts by policemen to arrest the NSCDC official for daring to stop the execution of the court judgment‎ were resisted.

The policemen fired gunshots to scare away surging crowd and later succeeded in whisking away the NSCDC official.

Reacting, an aide to the Speaker, Waheed Akinola said  that his principal was in court over the contentious custody of his daughter, Samiat Adekunbi and the dissolution of the purported marriage between him and Ms Iyabode Adedotun

“The court granted the relief of Iyabo to dissolve the marriage and transfer the custody of the child to the Speaker in line with the law. It was the second ruling that the plaintiff quarrelled with, throwing caution to the wind in the process.

“She personally insulted and even manhandled the Speaker right inside the court to the chargrin of everyone.

“To worsen the situation, she brought with her a NSCDC official, who we later learnt, was never posted there nor got an official approval to cover the proceedings.

“As if that was not enough, the officer flouted the court order on the submission of handsets and secretly recorded the proceedings without the permission of the court until he was caught.

It was on that strength that the court ordered her arrest by security operatives. She of course resisted arrested and that led to the avoidable show of shame that ensued today (yesterday)”.