22nd August, 2013
The Chairman, Lagos State House of Assembly Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Public Petitions, Sanai Agunbiade, has told P.M.NEWS that officials of the Nigerian Police are to begin with an autopsy on a motorcycle rider that was allegedly shot by a policeman in the Ikorodu area of the state on Tuesday.
He also confirmed the arrest of the trigger-happy policeman, who had earlier been identified as Haruna, an officer with the Rapid Response Squad, RRS, anti-crime team of the state.
The murdered motorcyclist simply identified as Lekan a.k.a. Oosa, was said to be a student of the Federal University of Technology, Akure, in Ondo State and had a wife and five children.
“I was there yesterday and we have perfected all documents to enable police begin an autopsy on the corpse.
“They would begin any moment from now and I assure you that it will be one of the fastest cases ever handled by the police because I am involved,” he told P.M. NEWS.
Agunbiade said findings had shown that the motorcycle rider was not actually the person targeted by the police as he was killed by a stray bullet.
He said the policeman attempted to attack another person but the bullet hit Lekan instead.
The lawmaker who also represents the part of Ikorodu where the incident happened said he was at the scene of the protest yesterday, adding that the government must make sure justice prevails on the issue.
Agunbiade said the Road Traffic Law, as passed by the House, does not have any section where police or other law enforcement agents were ordered to kill motorcycle riders, even where they flout the law.
Instead, he maintained that the law stipulated how offenders are to be dealt with in a civil manner, adding that this includes trying them in court and either giving them an option of fine or prison terms.
Agunbiade said this was one case too many. He vowed to follow the case through to ensure that this case becomes a reference point for other policemen who have always used crude methods to enforce discipline.
The spokesman for the Lagos State Police Command, DSP Ngozi Braide, had on Wednesday disclosed that it has arrested the policeman who killed Lekan.
According to Braide, “four of them are already in police custody, including the officer who shot the motorcyclist.
“The policeman who was attacked by the motorcyclists is being treated at a hospital. We want to know who fired the shot and why he fired; justice must be done.”
—Eromosele Ebhomele