The Ambrose Alli University Law Class of 2003/2004 Alumni Association has condemned the reported arrest, detention and treatment of a legal practitioner, Simon Eromosele, Esq., at the Jabi, Abuja office of OPay Digital Services Limited, and has given the Nigeria Police Force and the company fourteen working days to act on a set of demands.
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The Association set out its position in a press statement dated 20 August 2026, signed by its President, Andrew Obakpolor, Esq., and General Secretary, Elizabeth A. Iyamu-Ojo, PhD, and endorsed by fourteen named members.
“While He Was Lawfully Performing His Professional Duties”
The statement expresses the Association’s “strongest condemnation of the reported unlawful arrest, degrading treatment, detention and intimidation of our distinguished classmate and member, on the 14th of August 2026 in Jabi District, Abuja, by officers of the Nigeria Police Force, and the alleged complicity of OPay Digital Services Limited, while he was lawfully performing his professional duties as a legal practitioner.”
According to the account provided to the Association, the lawyer visited the office solely to follow up on a formal legal letter dated 13 July 2026, written on behalf of his client, requesting the legal basis upon which restrictions had been placed on the client’s bank accounts, after the institution failed to respond to the correspondence.
“Handcuffed Before Members Of The Public”
The statement says that rather than being received by the institution’s legal department as customer service officials had indicated, the lawyer was “allegedly confronted by a plain-clothes police officer present within OPay’s premises, publicly informed that he was under arrest, handcuffed before members of the public and taken away in a commercial taxi to Utako Police Station, Abuja, where he was processed like a common criminal despite identifying himself as a legal practitioner and producing his Nigerian Bar Association identity card.”
The Association records its concern that “this arrest occurred on the premises of OPay, after Mr Eromosele had duly identified himself and the purpose of his visit as legal counsel acting for his client.”
At the station, according to the account, he was compelled to surrender his personal belongings, remove his shoes, belt, shirt and trousers, and was locked in a detention cell for approximately one hour and thirty minutes before being transferred, again in handcuffs, to the Monitoring Unit at Force Headquarters.
“Sought To Criminalise The Ordinary Discharge Of A Lawyer’s Responsibilities”
The Association says it is particularly disturbed by the alleged conduct of DSP Adamu Bulangu of the Police Monitoring Unit.
According to the account, the officer “accused him of interfering with an ongoing police investigation merely because he had written a professional legal letter on behalf of his client to OPay.” He is alleged to have “shouted at him, questioned his authority to represent his client, demanded that he produce his client before he could regain his freedom, and sought to criminalise the ordinary discharge of a lawyer’s constitutional and professional responsibilities.”
The Allegations Concerning The Phone
The statement describes the allegations concerning the lawyer’s mobile telephone as more alarming still.
It alleges that after permitting him to briefly access his phone to retrieve information needed for his statement, the officer “returned, forcibly seized the device, accessed his private WhatsApp conversations without lawful authority or judicial authorisation, accused him of informing fellow lawyers of his ordeal, declared that ‘the lawyers you are contacting cannot do anything,’ and personally deleted several WhatsApp messages that Mr Eromosele had sent to members of the Nigerian Bar Association seeking urgent legal assistance before those messages could be delivered.”
The Association adds: “If established, these allegations represent an extraordinarily serious abuse of police authority and an unlawful interference with private communications, legal professional privilege and constitutional rights.”
Bar Intervention Refused
The statement records that despite the intervention of Michael Ochili, Esq., Publicity Secretary of the Nigerian Bar Association, Abuja Branch, who attended the Monitoring Unit to seek his release, the lawyer “was allegedly denied bail, handcuffed once again and transported in a police vehicle to the SARS Detention Facility, Abuja, where he remained in detention until approximately 10:00 p.m. that night, before eventually being returned to Force Headquarters and released on self-recognisance after sustained intervention by members of the legal profession.”
“The Independence Of The Legal Profession”
The Association says the allegations, if proven, “paint a deeply disturbing picture of the abuse of police powers and corporate complicity.”
“A lawyer carrying out his professional responsibility to represent a client should never be subjected to public humiliation, repeated handcuffing, arbitrary detention, intimidation, invasion of privacy, confiscation of personal property or interference with privileged communications simply because he discharged his professional obligations,” it states.
It adds that the fact that the incident occurred within the premises of a regulated financial institution “raises serious questions regarding OPay’s role, responsibility, and duty of care to persons lawfully engaging with the institution.”
On the principle at stake, the statement says: “The independence of the legal profession is one of the pillars upon which constitutional democracy rests. Lawyers must be able to represent clients fearlessly and independently without intimidation from any authority, whether state or corporate. Criminalising legitimate legal representation strikes at the heart of access to justice and the rule of law.”
The Demands On The Police
The Association demands that the Nigeria Police Force institute “an immediate, independent and transparent disciplinary investigation” into the conduct of the named officer and every other officer involved in the arrest, detention and treatment of the lawyer.
It demands the officer’s immediate removal from operational investigative duties pending the conclusion of disciplinary and criminal investigations.
It calls for an investigation into “the alleged unauthorised seizure of Mr Eromosele’s mobile phone, unlawful access to confidential WhatsApp communications, deletion of electronic messages, intimidation and interference with legally privileged communications,” and, where established, the prosecution of every officer responsible.
It further demands an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the decision to arrest, publicly handcuff, transport and detain a legal practitioner carrying out a lawful professional engagement, and the identification of every officer who authorised or participated in those actions.
It requires the public disclosure of the outcome of the disciplinary proceedings, with any officer found to have abused police powers subjected to appropriate sanctions “including suspension, dismissal where warranted, and prosecution if criminal offences are disclosed,” and an official apology to the lawyer should the allegations be substantiated.
The Association states that the demands should be implemented within fourteen working days, “failing which the Association shall commence legal action both within Nigeria and at the international legal space.”
The Demands On OPay
The Association demands that OPay Digital Services Limited conduct an immediate internal investigation into the circumstances that led to the arrest of a legal practitioner on its premises while discharging lawful professional duties, and publish the outcome.
It further demands that the company publicly state its policy regarding the involvement of law enforcement against customers’ legal representatives, and issue an unreserved apology to the lawyer “and put measures in place to ensure lawyers are not obstructed or exposed to arrest while engaging with the institution on behalf of clients.”
The same fourteen working day deadline is applied.
Call To Regulators And The Bar
The Association calls on the Inspector-General of Police, the Police Service Commission, the National Human Rights Commission, the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Nigerian Bar Association “to closely monitor this matter and ensure that every allegation is investigated impartially, transparently and in accordance with the Constitution and the law.”
It states that the statement “is not intended to obstruct or prejudice any legitimate criminal investigation,” but is “a call for accountability and respect for constitutional safeguards,” adding: “Every investigation undertaken by law enforcement agencies must itself be conducted within the confines of the law.”
The statement concludes: “An injury to one member of the legal profession is an injury to the administration of justice itself. Justice must not only be done; it must be seen to be done. The rule of law remains the bedrock of every democratic society, and no lawyer should be punished for performing his professional duty.”
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