Journalist Arrested, Remanded In Ikoyi Prison Over Hairstyle

A 24-year-old photojournalist, Yinka Badmus, who works with Talk Village International, is currently cooling off at Ikoyi Prisons because of his hairstyle.

He was reportedly arrested by policemen attached to the Lagos State Anti-Cultism unit for wearing dreadlocks, which the officers allegedly said made him look like a cultist.

It was learned that Badmus was arrested on New Year eve, while eating noodles, at Pedro Bus Stop, Gbagada.

Vanguard gathered that after Badmus was detained, the policemen allegedly refused to allow him to contact his relatives or friends.

Badmus was able to send a message to his relatives on January 3, through a detainee, who was granted bail.

The detainee contacted Badmus’ relatives explaining to them that he had already spent three days in detention, contravening the stipulated instruction that every suspect must be charged within 24 hours.

Badmus’ relatives contacted his boss, Stephen Oguntoyibo, Chief Executive Officer of Talk Village International , to help secure his bail.

It was gathered that when Stephen Oguntoyibo went to bail Badmus at the station, he was shocked to see the Police conveying him and other young men in a Black Maria to Ogudu Magistrate’s Court, Lagos, where he was eventually arraigned and remanded.

According to Oguntoyibo, “at the Ogudu Magistrate’s Court, the resident judge asked that Badmus be granted bail and a lawyer in the magistrate court was attached to us.

“The lawyer subsequently requested for the following: means of ID proof, house rent receipt, NEPA bill, company ID and tax payment receipts for two years.

“He also received N10,000 and later the lawyer demanded another N20,000 for his service, with a promise that he would have a meeting with the judge and, thereby, effect Badmus’s release.

“On Tuesday, I called the lawyer with the intention of submitting the requested documents, so the boy can be released. The lawyer, again, demanded another N25,000 for bail bond, and also made me know that I would have to pay police for verification and other processes. Meanwhile, the boy has been remanded in Ikoyi Prison.”

Oguntoyibo disclosed that he had been inundated with phone calls from prison, alerting him of Badmus’ deteriorating health.

National Coordinator of the Network for Police Reforms in Nigeria, Okechukwu Nwanguma, furious over the journalist’s continued incarceration, said: “The Police officer was quoted as saying the guy was arrested because of his hairstyle.

“Where in the law is a hairstyle a crime? And why did the Police officer go ahead to charge him?

“Since he was granted bail, why did the lawyer keep making financial demands from the surety, including money for the Police to go and verify the surety’s residence? Isn’t that unbecoming of a lawyer?

“The innocent guy is languishing in prison, reported to be very sick, all because of a lawyer’s greed.”