‘Sexual harassment’: Family can’t stop investigation of Ogun commissioner, say police

The Ogun police command says it will proceed with the investigation of sexual harassment levelled against Abiodun Abudu-Balogun, the state commissioner for environment.

In a viral video, Melojuekun Barakat, a teenager, had alleged that Abudu-Balogun sexually harassed her but the commissioner denied the allegation.

Barakat, said to be a student of Victory Model College in Ogun waterside local government area of the state, had narrated her encounter with the commissioner.

Consequently, the Ogun state government suspended Abudu-Balogun.

However, in a turn of events, the family of the victim announced that they were withdrawing the allegation against the suspended commissioner.

In a video, Melojuekun Adesola Mansur, a man who identified himself as Barakat’s father, said the family would love to lay the matter to rest.

He added that he no longer has an interest in the case, saying he discovered that there are some “misconceptions and misunderstanding” between his daughter and the commissioner.

But Abimbola Oyeyemi, police public relations officer of the command, said the victim’s father has no power to tell the police that they are no longer pressing charges against the commissioner as he is not the one directly involved in the case.

Oyeyemi said the case is an offence committed against the state, therefore, it is the commissioner of police versus the suspect.

He also noted that the position of the family is “immaterial”.

He added that Edward Ajogun, the state commissioner of police, had ordered that the case be transferred to the criminal investigation department at the police headquarters in Eleweran, Abeokuta, for “proper investigation”.

“The father of the victim has no loco standi for him to tell the police that he’s no longer pressing charges against the commissioner because he is not our complainant,” Oyeyemi said.

“He is not the person that was directly involved in the case. The victim is his daughter and even the daughter herself cannot withdraw the case because she is underage.

“Secondly, the case is an offence committed against the state, so they are no longer complainants, it is the commissioner of police versus the suspect.

“They are just witnesses in the case. So the police are going on with investigations to confirm the authenticity of the claims.

“The CP has directed that the case should be transferred to the State CID for proper investigations, so their position is immaterial.

“We cannot conclude that the case will be charged to court until when we confirm that the offence was actually committed. If the offence was actually committed, we will not hesitate to charge it court and see the case to a logical conclusion.”