A Nigerian Twitter user has narrated how she and her friends were assaulted in an attack allegedly spearheaded by a Lagos supermarket owner after they asked for an update on a N3,950 transfer they made.
@Whitneyy_xx claimed that asides from being forced to pay N150,000 for the glass door that was broken while they were assaulted, they were also allegedly forced by the police to pay N40,000 as bail.
She tweeted: “Hello everyone! i’m tweeting from a place of hurt. it’s been a week now & we haven’t gotten justice still. on the 21st of nov 2022,i & my friends were assaulted. the day before being the 20th of nov 2022, two of my friends went to get few stuff we’d use to prep dinner with from a supermarket close to the estate (PJAY MART) at osapa london.
After purchasing the items, they made a transfer of 3,950 as that was the total amount of all the items they purchased to the store’s account but the store attendants claimed not to have gotten it.
My friend was debited and she showed them proof but they claimed not to have received it still and kept her and my other friend waiting for confirmation for over 2 solid hours. one of the store attendants later gave them her personal account to resend the money there again tey transferred another sum of 3,950 and it went through immediately. the store attendant then said they should come back the following day and even gave them her cell digits so that she’d inform them as soon as they receive the first money they sent. these are the alerts
We went for a beach hangout the following day and we decided to stop at the store on our way back home to confirm if they got the money already cos it wasn’t reversed from our end. on getting there, we saw the store attendant that gave us her cell digits and took our details standing just by the suya spot outside so we asked her what was going on cos we called her earlier during the day and she was sounding very cold on the phone.
She claimed to have been sleeping as at the time we called. the store owner was in the premises and overheard our convo then called the store attendant and asked her what the problem was and she explained then her reply to us was “who are you people to tell me to call my bank or confirm any transaction? i haven’t gotten any money, if you like shout and bring down the building, i don’t care”
She then instructed all of the staff present to keep mute and ignore us and she drove off. the other store attendant that was present when the whole incident took place was outside as well so we asked her what the next line of action would be how possible it was for us to get a refund and alladat, she hissed and walked out on us, obviously adhering to her boss’s instructions. we were livid and we followed her into the store to ask her what the disrespect was for. now, other store attendants were present about two other female and two male store attendants.
The male store attendants started pushing us out of the store. we were trying to get a hold of ourselves cos it was unexpected. there were a couple of plumbing pipes at the entrance and one of the male attendants picked it up and started using it to flog one of my friends, we were all shocked at the sudden outburst and tried to stop him but he ended up hitting the three of us with it instead. my friend who was already bleeding struggled with him as they both held the glass entrance door and it broke.
The other store attendants present that couldn’t say a word or stop their colleague from attacking us called the store owner immediately and she came back to the store. we told her we were assaulted, my friend was already bleeding at the time.
I showed her my broken screen cos he threw my phone on the ground when i was recording him. my friend’s gold earring went missing as well. she said she didn’t care about any of that and we duly deserved the assault and we must pay for her broken door.
This is a video i was able to make of the male store attendant who assaulted us. this was before he smashed my phone.
The store owner made some calls and shortly after, a man showed up with about two armed police officers to pick us up. we told her we won’t go alone and the guy that assaulted us needed to be there as well and her response was “i called the police to come pick you guys up, when you call your own you can come and pick him up.”
We went with the armed officers to the station. on our way, the man that came with the officers stopped halfway and asked if we didn’t want to settle with them thereby paying 250k for the broken door and we refused. we said we’d only pay if it’s a 50/50 arrangement or they let us bring our own technician to fix it cos if there wasn’t any outburst from them it won’t lead to the door being damaged. he said the store owner didn’t want any of that, it’s either we pay 250k in full. nothing less!!
We got to the police station and the officers at the counter took our statement and said we were the ones at fault, that we’re nothing but prostitutes going around constituting nuisance. even after seeing my injured friend and my damaged phone
They threw us into the cell and detained us up until the following day. the following day being the 21st of nov 2022 was a monday. the store owner came to the police station to see the DPO of ILASAN DIVISION ( the station we were detained) as at 12 noon and we were called out.
She said she’d only accept the payment of 150k for the door, to think she initially said 250k lol. we made the transfer of 150k even after offering to bring in our technician for the umpteenth time.
She confirmed the alerts and asked if it was the same account we sent the initial 3,950 from cos the account name was familiar which means she received the money but claimed not to lol. she then left with the female attendant that was rude to us when the whole p happened.
We were still locked up. the police officers said we will be charged to court for malicious damage & transferred to panti if we don’t pay the sum of 90k for bail which is 30k each for the 3 of us. after much pleading, they said they’d only collect 40k, nothing more nothing less!
We paid it which is a total of 190k in total and they made us sign an undertaking that we’d never step foot into the store(PJAY MART) before they released us.
TWITTER NG please come to my aid!! this is inhumane!! i’ve never felt cheated in my entire life. i had an ulcer attack the night we were detained which could have cost me my life cos i didn’t have access to my drugs or any medical care whatsoever. God really was just on my side.
My friends had open wounds and we were all exposed to undeserved torture in an insecure and unhealthy environment. i don’t even know how to go about this anymore cos clearly the nigerian police is your worst enemy!
The current state of my phone! that idiot hit me and still smashed my phone! the actual audacity!!!!!
Lagos police spokesperson, Benjamin Hundeyin who reacted to the complaint, said the DPO of the police station where they were locked up has been contacted.
