Murder Of White Cap Chief: Where Were The Police?

The murder of a Lagos White Cap Chief, Chief Kayode Adeshina, the Onimole of Lagos, by some unidentified gunmen last Thursday reminds everyone that no one is safe, considering the fact that the first class chief was killed in his palace right inside his bedroom at about 3 a.m. What makes matters worse is that there is tight security around Iga Iduganran where the palace of the Oba of Lagos, Oba Rilwan Akiolu, is located, yet the killers escaped.

Policemen are always deployed around the Oba’s gate so how come residents of the area heard gun shots while Chief Onimole was being killed and the police, whose statutory responsibility is to provide security did not hear the gunshots? Was there any complicity in the sordid incident?

The policemen on duty that fateful day have a case to answer for failing to  at least apprehend Onimole’s killers. And perhaps to cover up their ineptitude, the police from Ebute Ero began indiscriminate arrest of scores of youths in Isale Eko after the attack with the intention to parade them as the killers.

To ensure that a thorough investigation is carried out, the police and other security agencies must spread their dragnets far and wide.

Though the killers of Onimole demanded  money, according to his daughter, Oyindamola Ikuforiji, who was in the palace when they struck, and he told them he had no money but only his phone, there could be more to the septuagenarian’s murder than a perceived armed robbery attack.

Security operatives should also explore the angle of assassination. Perhaps someone had an axe to grind with him over certain issues not known to many. It could revolve around land ownership which is usually a thorny issue that sometimes compels aggrieved parties to take up arms to settle scores. Whatever it is, we expect security agencies to do a thorough investigation, if anything, to make up for their failure to prevent the murder of the chief.

The murder of a first class chief in his bedroom is a huge embarrassment to the state Police Commissioner, Umaru Manko and his men. For this reason he must ensure he redeems his image by arresting and prosecuting the real culprits and probing his men who seemingly slept on duty when the crime was being perpetrated. That is the only way he can assuage the feelings of the people of Isale Eko who are utterly disappointed at the laxity of his men on the day of the incident.