Precious Chikwendu, estranged wife of former aviation minister Femi Fani-Kayode, has petitioned the Senate Committee on Police Affairs alleging a case of threat to her life and harassment from the police.
The former beauty queen alleged in the petition written on her behalf by her lawyer Abdul-Aziz Jimoh that Mr Fani-Kayode was using the Inspector general of police Usman Baba, FCT police commissioner, and chief superintendent of police James Idachaba to prevent her from having custody of her four children.
Ms Chikwendu said she filed a suit at the FCT High Court on February 10, 2021 after Fani-Kayode denied her access to her children.
“It is simply because of this suit that Fani-Kayode enlisted the services of the Nigerian Police Force to harass our client, by causing his lawyer to write a spurious petition to the Police over the same matter pending in a court of competent jurisdiction,” the petition reads.
“Chief Fani-Kayode, rather than submit to the jurisdiction of the court and defend himself as would most law-abiding citizens, proceeded to level allegation against our client that she was involved in a criminal consultancy, forgery and falsification of court records.
“The said forgery was purportedly in respect of the receipt of court papers by Chief Fani-Kayode, who alleged that the signature presented by the court bailiff was a forged one.
“it is more curious to note that these allegations were in respect of a matter pending in court and the normal thing would have been for the court to have been informed formally and the chief registrar of the court duly informed too by the formal complaint.
“However, in an attempt to frustrate our client’s custody case against him, Fani-Kayode, a qualified legal practitioner, has enlisted the services of the Nigerian Police to harass, intimidate and detain our clients on numerous occasions after she filed a lawsuit against him.
“Since our client instituted a lawsuit against him for the custody of her four children, Fani-Kayode and the Nigerian Police have continued to act in collusion to interfere in the lawful administration of justice by intimidating her to give up on what is a lawful ventilation of a legal grievance.
“Our client has also filed a fundamental rights enforcement suit at the Federal High Court, with the IGP and other senior Police officers involved in the harassment and Fani-Kayode as parties and they have all been served with the court processes.”
Chikwendu said despite the fact that she filed the fundamental human rights suit on July 12, 2021 the harassment from the police has not stopped.
According to her, she honoured a police invitation on August 4, 2021, and was detained overnight in a police cell purportedly over a publication she had made online.
The petition further reads, “She is asking the Senate Committee on Police Affairs to conduct a thorough and independent investigation into the issues raised in her petition and that the IGP be compelled to stop forthwith in engaging in a less salubrious alliance with Fani-Kayode in his child custody dispute pending at the FCT High Court and the Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal.
“We are further praying the committee to stop the IGP and his officers from continuing to invite, harass, arrest, detain or do anything inconsistent with our client’s rights pending the determination of the matter pending at the Federal High Court.”
