POLICE ORDERED TO PROVIDE EVIDENCE OF THE DEATH OF FSARS INSPECTOR WHO KILLED LASTMA OFFICIAL
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Joseph Omoniyi
Some LASTMA officers have urged the Lagos State police authorities to be sincere in their investigations of the killing of an official of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, LASTMA, Rotimi Adeyemo, by an Inspector of the Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad, FSARS, Olukunle Olonade, adding that only justice for the dead would put the matter to rest.
This is coming as the state Commissioner of Police, Edgal Imohimi, has also ordered that Olonade should be tried posthumously and dismissed from the police force.
The police spokesperson in Lagos State, CSP Chike Oti, in a statement on Thursday, said the F-SARS operative also died from the beating he got from the irate mob, who mistook him for an armed hoodlum.
He added that the corpses of the two men were deposited in an unnamed morgue.
Oti stated that although the inspector was dead, the CP had ordered his trial in an orderly room and recommended that he should be dismissed from the force.
However, an official of LASTMA, who preferred anonymous, said the claim of Olonade’s death was doubtful.
“We were the ones who took him to the police station. He was alive and okay as of the time we took him there. So, how did he die? Did the police beat him as well? ” he queried.
Another LASTMA official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, asked the police to provide evidence of the F-SARS operative’s death.
He said, “There is something fishy somewhere; they may be hiding something. The police should provide evidence that the policeman is indeed dead. It is premature for the CP to say the guy should be tried posthumously. They should first convince the public that he is dead.
“The incident has affected our men; they are afraid. It is one of the problems we are currently facing on Lagos roads. The violators of the state traffic laws are mostly uniformed men. They are the ones driving unlicensed and unpainted vehicles.
“Most times when they are apprehended, all they do is to display the paraphernalia of their professions and that make them to be above the law. They can even drive against traffic on the Third Mainland Bridge and nobody dares to question them.
“If you try to talk, they will first show you their ID cards. If you ask them to turn back from the wrong route, they will then show you their guns. That is part of the crisis we are facing on the roads. Our men cannot perform if they don’t have the confidence and the protection of the police; if they are being intimidated, harassed and killed by the people who should protect them, how do you expect them to function effectively?”
The Public Affairs Officer of LASTMA, Mahmud Hassan, said, “For the police, the ball is now in their court. They are the ones with the power to conduct investigation. But all eyes are on them to ensure that justice is done. The deceased’s family and the entire members of the public are waiting for justice.
“There, is however, the need for uniformed men, especially the police and soldiers, to cooperate with our men on the road. They should stop harassing our men. They should be examples to other road users.”
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