The Lagos State Police Command has finally bowed to pressure and released Charles Chiawa, a resident who was controversially detained after allegedly taking a second wife.
His release was confirmed to SaharaReporters by the pro-democracy group, the Take-It-Back Movement (TIB), which played a key role in securing his freedom.
According to the group, the swift intervention by Adekunle Adeyemi Taofeek (Scotty Aluta), the Lagos TIB coordinator, alongside Comrade Oyenike, TIB National Financial Secretary, and Comrade Banwo Olagokun, a TIB member, forced the police to back down from what appeared to be an unlawful detention.
It was learnt that the police ultimately freed Charles after it became clear that he had been wrongfully accused of domestic violence — a charge that sources close to the family say was merely a cover to justify his arrest over a legally permissible second marriage.
SaharaReporters had earlier reported how Charles was arrested at the instigation of his first wife, Uche Chiawa, who allegedly used her connections with the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of Ejigbo Police Station, CSP Patience Osuagwu, to have him thrown behind bars for marrying a second wife.
Though polygamy is not illegal under Nigerian law, Uche reportedly leveraged the police to punish her husband.
Uche, who had been married to Charles for 20 years, admitted to SaharaReporters that she had used the police against him.
“I also did court, not only traditional marriage. I used police to arrest him because he always beats me,” she claimed.
However, sources familiar with the case suggested that the domestic violence allegation was merely a convenient excuse.
“Charles was detained by his first wife on the allegation that he married another wife,” the source revealed.
“The first wife has connections with the woman DPO at Ejigbo, and she wants her husband to suffer inside the cell.”
Attempts to secure Charles’ release were reportedly blocked by Uche, who allegedly instructed the police not to grant him bail.
“I reached out to the DPO, who initially agreed to grant him bail, but when his youngest wife arrived to bail him, the eldest wife blocked it,” the source added.
In an apparent bid to escalate the situation, the police transferred Charles to the Gender Unit in Ikeja, raising further concerns about abuse of power.
“He has been transferred to Ikeja, the police gender unit. They are trying to frame him for domestic violence against the first wife,” a family source told SaharaReporters before his eventual release.
Even the police could not justify the case against Charles. In an earlier response to SaharaReporters, CSP Osuagwu admitted that marrying more than one wife is not an offence.
“The case has been transferred to the gender department. We use criminal law here in Nigeria in this western side. So I don’t know why you should be telling me that somebody marrying two wives is an offence. Is it an offence to marry two wives?” Osuagwu said.