By Chidi Okoye

YESTERDAY, the author used the story of Mrs. Falade and her house girl, Sade, to throw light on people’s fundamental rights to liberty, freedom of religion, and right to human dignity, and the story of DSP Igbinoba Solomon to explain Section 1 of the Criminal Laws of Lagos State 2015. Today, he discusses the purpose of the law. 

Section 2. Purpose of the Law

I reported at the administrative office for documentation. Obviously aware of where I would be posted, I went straight to the OC Legal to learn from my predecessor’s mistake. He was so thrilled to receive me. My remarkable performance in the Endsars Assessment report had led to my name trending within the Force. 

The OC legal went straight to why I was there to see him. It seemed he had read my mind, as he rightly predicted I was there to ensure I never made the same mistake Solomon did. While we were conversing, the AIG’s orderly stepped into his office and told him that the AIG requested his presence in an ongoing meeting. 

He smiled at me, knowing he could not continue his lecture. Before leaving his office, he handed me a book and asked me to go through it, and use it as a guide to excel in my new posting. The book’s title read: “Criminal Laws of Lagos State 2015.” As I flipped through the book, Section 2 caught my attention. It talked extensively on the purpose of the law. 

I reflected on the Endsars protests, when there was a complete breakdown of law and order across the Federation. There was complete chaos and disorderliness in every part of the country, and none of the laws contained in this law book was upheld, as most police officers were fighting for their lives. No one was able to enforce the law, as hoodlums looted shopping malls and extorted innocent civilians. Innocent girls and women were raped and molested. But they did not stop at that, as they entered some apartments and robbed and killed those that put up resistance. 

The beautiful city of Lagos became a nightmare, as various cult groups waged war on rival groups, turning the streets of Lagos into streams of blood. 

I remember a particular cult group that severed the head of a young man and used it to play football. Several policemen were killed, burnt, and eaten by these same barbarians that took over the streets. Judiciary facilities were raided, and both documents and facilities were burnt. Everything the Laws of Lagos regarded as an offence was violated. Nowhere was safe. 

I was on duty outside Lagos at the time, and had to call home, as I was really worried about my family. My wife and kids could not sleep, as these hoodlums repeatedly attempted to gain access into Ketu Police Station, which housed officers’ quarters. The safest place I used to know turned into a blackened spot, marked for destruction. 

I had received information that the said mob had burnt down close to seventeen police stations, and two of them had quarters attached to them. The officers occupying the said quarters had to run for their lives, scaling the station’s fence to neighbouring buildings. 

Sadly, the people living there drove them away like outcasts because the law no longer had value. The law enforcers had lost their power and were now the hunted. Some suspects went as far as tracking down officers investigating their cases. Those IPOs, who were exposed, were killed, simply because they investigated someone suspected to have violated the laws. 

My heart beat in my ears every second my wife called, not knowing what she would say if I picked the call. The light radiated by the criminal law was covered up in the smoke of darkness created by the chaos that took over the space the law used to sanitize. 

I never thought the criminal law held value until I tasted a life without it. Lagos cried for a week until sanity was restored. 

The purpose the criminal laws of Lagos should not be taken lightly is because it promotes an orderly society; it fosters collective obligation and duties toward the preservation and protection of life and property; it is subject to public control and persons whose conduct indicate that they are disposed to committing offences; it safeguards conduct that is without fault from condemnation as criminals; it gives fair warning of the nature of the conduct declared to be an offence. 

Purpose of Criminal Laws of Lagos State

Section 3. Guiding Principle of this Law

I was still going through the law book when the OC Legal returned. With a smile on his face, and a pat on the back, he said, “I have a case for you.” 

He asked his orderly, who was nearby, to take me to Solomon’s former office. Then he turned to me. “You can have the law book,” he said, handing me a case file. “This is your first case in G7, make it count,” he added. 

As I sat in the lobby, waiting for the orderly who had gone to fetch the keys to my new office, I went through the content of the file to get a grasp of what the case was all about. It was a mob attack, which led to the death of a young man. Three suspects had been arrested by the Division that carried out preliminary investigation on the case. 

I took my time reading through the IPO’s report. The young man who lost his life, in the case, was Kingsley Ode, a twenty-nine-year-old former bank staff, who left the bank to establish an online investment platform with close to 500, 000 subscribers, who invested millions of naira in the scheme, which Kingsley claimed would give them 30% of any amount invested. 

He did very well at the early stage of the scheme, because he actually paid the so-called percentage to those that subscribed in the first five months. Eventually, the entire investment scheme went south, and he started owing subscribers. But, from all indications, he didn’t invest any of the money; he was simply using Peter’s money to pay Paul. 

At some point, he disappeared, and no one could find him. Close to five billion naira was hanging, and no one to account for it. People were raving mad and trying to reach him. But his website was frozen, and his phone numbers were not reachable. 

However, a set of determined guys was able to smoke him out, as they traced his movements to a strip club in Lekki, where he hung out. They monitored his movements for four months, until they succeeded in setting him up with a particularly hot stripper, called Kate. 

These guys – named Sunday, Yemi and Funso – were all students of Ogun State university. The three of them had collectively invested N28,000,000 in Kingsley’s Ponzi Scheme. While monitoring Kingsley’s movements, they noticed his keen interest in Kate. So, they paid her handsomely to lure him out of Lekki Phase 1, to Ajah, where the three of them stayed. 

It happened that they had lied to Kate that the Police was involved in taking Kingsley down. As much as Kate was convinced Kingsley was a fraudster who had robbed people of their hard-earned money, she needed to make sure that she was bringing him to face the law. Funso made a call to a guy who posed as a police officer, and this convinced Kate that he worked with Ajah Division, so she played along. 

That night, Kingsley came to the club with his bodyguards who stood close to him while he was throwing money at Kate. In the middle of the whole excitement, Kate pretended that she was sick. Kingsley, who at this point had developed sexual feelings for her, decided to take her home. 

She took them to an apartment in Ajah which seemed rather expensive for a stripper to afford, but she had the key to the place, and used It to open the door. She switched on the lights, and invited them in. It was a one-bedroom apartment. 

As soon as Kingsley stepped into the living room, Kate, who was presumed to be sick, jumped at him and started kissing him, running her hands all over him. Already turned on, Kingsley told his bodyguards to wait outside till he was done. 

After laying Kate on a couch and kissing her some more, he phoned his bodyguards, and instructed them to go and wait for him at any nearby hotel. 

Kate had him exactly where she wanted him, as he spent the night at her place. In the morning, he got a call from his bodyguards while he was still in bed. 

“There is trouble, sir,” they said. 

He was confused. He turned to the other end of the bed, but Kate was not there. As he attempted to hurry down from the bed and pull on his clothes, the three guys who had set him up walked into the room. 

“We hope you enjoyed our accommodation,” they said, dragging him down from the bed. He was still in boxers and singlet. As they rough-handled him, they pushed him out of the apartment and into the midst of a crazy crowd that had gathered in the compound.

Kingsley found himself on the ground, with blood dripping from the side of his head.