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By 
11:51 AM
Few weeks ago, the Lagos Command of the Nigeria Police said it had made a serious breakthrough by arresting the alleged suspects who raided the Ipakodo branches of First Bank and Zenith Bank in Ikorodu area of the state on June 24, and even paraded the said robbers,
identified as Monday Akpan, Bright Agbojule, Promise Abiwa, and Monday
Ikuesan, who made 'confessions' as to their roles in the robberies.
But
their lawyer, Olusegun Akanbi, shocked the Federal High Court in state
by saying they were actually forced by the police to make the
confessions under duress.
Akanbi boldly accused
the police of forcing the statements out of them and they had to comply
with the police so that the maltreatment they were subjected to would
end.
Akanbi told the court that the men are not
the actual criminals and has urged the police to produce them if they
are still alive.
The lawyer also prayed the court
for an order compelling the police to produce the four suspects in court
because their families were denied access to them.
Akanbi said the suspects 'made
confessional statements to the members of the press out of duress,
accusing the police of parading the criminal suspects and mandating them
to grant press interviews under compulsion which is illegal.'
The police had said the four men were part of an 18-man gang which made away with about N80million in the robbery.
The
four suspects had reportedly confessed to playing different roles in
the alleged crime while three Sport Utility Vehicles (SUVs) allegedly
bought with the robbery proceeds were recovered from them.
Akanbi
claimed that the police violated the suspects’ right to remain silent
or to avoid answering any questions until after consulting with a lawyer
in line with Section 35(2) of the 1999 Constitution.
He went further to state that the suspects may not get a fair trial since they have 'already suffered prejudice in the eye of the public due to unfair publicity and unprofessional acts of the defendants.'
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