by Sesan Olufowobi, Kunle Falayi and Sodiq Oyeleke with agency report
Mrs. Alice Aderinton, the aged guardian of Abiodun Ademola, the man allegedly shot by the Divisional Police Officer of Pen Cinema Police Station in Yaya Abatan in Ogba area of Lagos on Monday, has expressed sadness over the death of a man she described as “a gentle soul.”
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At her 6, Aderinton Street, Ogba residence on Tuesday, she said, “he was so hardworking that even though we were paying him salary, he decided to operate a commercial motorcycle to support his earnings.
“Ademola had become like my own son. In fact, he was a sort of jester in the compound. Everybody knew him as a funny man who made us laugh. I'm so sad right now that these wicked people have taken Ademola from us. This is a personal tragedy to me.
“Please, help us ensure that justice is done. He was a young and promising man. I never had any reason to regret that he was with me in the whole seven years he was here.”
Ademola was shot in the crotch after the DPO, Segun Fabunmi, a chief superintendent of police, opened fire on a crowd of unarmed youths whom he alleged were trying to disarm him.
Eyewitnesses had told Metro shortly after the incident that some of the youths were playing football on the road while some were reading newspapers at a newsstand on Yaya Abatan Street when Fabunmi came in a convoy and asked them to disperse.
When the crowd did not, he allegedly shot into the air and later shot into the crowd. Five of the youths were hit. Ademola was hit in the crotch and fled, bleeding profusely.
He reportedly got tired few metres from where he was shot and sat down at the corner of Abeokuta Street where he died.
The four other youths who sustained gunshot injuries to various parts of their bodies: Christian Amadi, Alimi Abubakar, Egbijo Samuel and Joy Monday, have been transferred from County Hospital, Ogba, where they were given initial treatment before they were moved to the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja, on the orders of the Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola.
It was also learnt that Ademola's corpse has been transferred to the mortuary of LASUTH.
Immediately after the incident, the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Yakubu Alkali, ordered the arrest and detention of the DPO.
Meanwhile, the Chairman of Ifako-ljaiye Local Government Area, Dr. Oloruntoba Oke, the Baale of Yaya Abatan, Chief Adeola Abatan, and a member of the House of Representatives, Mr. Saka Fafunmi, have vowed to ensure that Fabunmi was brought to book.
Fafunmi said, “I was grieved that some policemen said the DPO shot at the youth because they were thugs and wanted to attack him.
“We are on top of the issue. Ademola was killed here and we have confirmed it and justice will be done. We will fight for this cause and justice must be seen to have been done in this case. We have seen the DPO in custody and Alkali has assured us that justice will be done.”
The men, however, pleaded with the youth in the area to shun violence.
In a related development, the Lagos State Government on Tuesday expressed interest in the investigation into the killing of Ademola.
The state Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Ade Ipaye, explained that the state's interest was not to hound the police into hanging the DPO or putting the force under undue pressure.
He said the state wanted to make sure that all necessary process was followed.
“The killing was done in Lagos State; therefore it was a crime against the state. So, everything must be done to ensure justice, fairness and transparency. The state will be ready to prosecute when the time comes; that is why we are interested in the handling of the investigation,” Ipaye said.
Some Lagos-based eminent lawyers have also urged immediate prosecution of the policeman, the News Agency of Nigeria reports.
The lawyers, who spoke with NAN on the phone, condemned the action, describing it as a crime against humanity.
The Chairman of the Ikeja Branch of the Nigeria Bar Association, Mr. Adebamigbe Omole, said the killing had again shown the “overzealous nature'' of security operatives in the country.
He said, “It is rather unfortunate because the protest in Lagos was peaceful; the security agents are overzealous.
“However, the law will take its course; the NBA will ensure that the police officer responsible is brought to justice.”
Omole advised security operatives not to worsen the tension in the land by opening fire on innocent Nigerians who were fighting for their fundamental human rights.
A lawyer, Prof. Itse Sagay, described the killing as a breach of the right of Nigerians to life, adding that the policeman responsible should face justice.
“It is a crime against humanity for peaceful protesters to be executed extra-judicially; the perpetrator must suffer the full weight of the law as a deterrent to others in the future,” he said.
A human rights activist and lawyer, Mr. Bamidele Aturu, said it was heinous for any policeman to shoot innocent Nigerians engaging in a peaceful protest over the removal of the subsidy on petrol.
“We will do everything possible to ensure that the policeman involved is prosecuted. We will be seeking a fiat from the Attorney-General of Lagos State to prosecute him and bring him to justice,'' Aturu said.
However, the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Hafiz Ringim, has ordered an investigation into the incident.
Written by NEWSTRAWL ONLINE UPDATE
Sodiq Oyeleke is a Media, Human Resources, Project Management and Public Relations Practitioner
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