A police corporal in Ogun State, whose identity has not been revealed
by the state police command, on Tuesday, shot dead a commercial
vehicle driver identified as Likinyo Olumide at the Sagamu Tollgate area
along the Lagos-Benin Expressway.
The driver was conveying seven passengers and their goods from Lagos
to Okitipupa in Ondo State, when the tragic occurrence happened.
One of the seven passengers, who witnessed the killing, Folake
Egbeuwalo, said some policemen, who were around the tollgate area, had
stopped the vehicle and the driver promptly parked by the road side.
For reasons which the passengers claimed not to have known, the
corporal shot the driver where he was standing beside his vehicle,
killing him on the spot.
The Ogun State Police Public Relations Officer, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, said the corporal had been arrested.
Our correspondent gathered that the 42-year-old driver was survived by six children and a pregnant wife.
Egbeuwalo, who spoke with journalists at the Police Headquarters,
Eleweran, Abeokuta, on Wednesday, said the incident occured at 9.45pm
on Tuesday, as they were coming from Lagos, where they went to buy some
goods and heading back for Okitipupa in Ondo State.
She said, “The late driver was our permanent driver, he used to
carry us from Okitipupa to Lagos. So, the man carried us from Idumagbo
on Lagos Island. As we were coming, we met many policemen and soldiers
on the road, we stopped and settled them.
“When we got to Sagamu Tollgate, we did not know that there were
policemen on the road; they asked the driver to park and immediately he
parked.
“As the driver came down from the vehicle, he stood beside the
vehicle and the policeman moved to the other side of the road and shot
him dead.”
Egbeuwalo added that the policeman and his colleagues, realising what
had happened, fled the area immediately, but came back a few minutes
later and took away the corpse in one of the Hilux vans with number
plate NPF 104 OD.
She, however, lamented that all the passengers were abandoned and
slept on the highway as none of them could drive the car after the
death of the driver.
A younger brother of the late driver, Likinyo Solomon, lamented the
death of his deceased, who he said was survived by six children and a
pregnant wife.
He said, “I demand to see the person that killed my brother and to know what actually happened before he was killed.”
During his visit to Ogun State on Wednesday, the Assistant
Inspector- General of Police, Zone 2 , Balade Hassan, said the
policeman would face the wrath of the law.
He said, “The regulation is clear and the constitution is clear about
the right to life of all Nigerians. So, if anybody takes the life of
anybody, be it a policeman or civilian, not as provided by the
constitution, that person will face the full wrath of the law.
“You know the present Inspector-General of Police and previous IGs do not take things lightly when things like that go wrong.
“You would recall that something like this happened in Lagos, the
policeman was arrested, tried, dismissed from the force and arraigned in
less than 24 hours after the incident.
“The police is trying to say anyone who flouts the rules and regulation, will get his case in court as the case may be.
“This case is not an exception from other cases. The person would be
tried as prescribed by the law, after finding him guilty, he would be
dismissed and charged to court.”
Adejobi, on his own part, said the command had arrested the killer cop.
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