Police Accused Of Killing Man Over Land

Policemen attached to the Special Ant-Robbery Squad, SARS, in Ogun State, southwest Nigeria, have been accused of complicity in the murder of 28-year-old Nigerian, Aliu Okeowo in a land dispute.

Okeowo, a relative of  Adalemo family of Igberen village in Ogun State, was allegedly shot when two men(names withheld), accompanied by some policemen attached to SARS stormed the family land and started shooting into the air.

The victim, Okeowo, was taken to Onipanu Police Station, Ota, where the case was reported and one Inspector A. Nze was detailed to investigate the matter.

Okeowo was said to have, thereafter, been rushed to Ota General Hospital and from there, doctors referred him to the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) where he died the following day.

Members of the Adalemo family are now accusing the police at Onipanu Police Station of complicity as they have refused to take their statement as to what led to the death of  Okeowo.   They claimed that barely two days after the death of their son, the matter was transferred to Eleweran, Abeokuta, even when none of the family members has written a statement on the case.

On what led to the death of  Okeowo, the spokesman of the Adalemo family, Mr Omotosho Saliu, claimed that the family’s problem with one of the men, who came with the policemen the day their relative was killed, began when the family revoked the power of attorney given to him to manage the land as their agent and replaced him with Prince Adedipe Ewenla.

Saliu said his family made the decision when they discovered that the man was working with their opponents against the interest of the family, alleging that ever since they revoked the power of attorney, the man and his accomplice have been harassing and intimidating members of the Adalemo family.

It was, however, alleged that on Friday, the men, accompanied by some policemen attached to SARS stormed the family land and started shooting indiscriminately and in the process, shot  Aliu Okeowo, who later died in the hospital.

The Adalemo family, therefore, called on the Inspector General of Police, Mr Muhammed Abubakar, to call the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) and the Divisional Crime Officer (DCO) of Onipanu Police Station to order for justice to prevail.

Speaking with P.M.NEWSCrimeSitRep on the incident, the Ogun State Police Command spokesman, Mr. Muyiwa Adejobi(ASP) said men of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, SARS, responded to a distress call that hoodlums were attacking some people and then rushed to the scene where two people were arrested.

Responding to the PPRO position, Omotosho asked: “Why didn’t they call Sango  Police Command if it is true that the  SARS men were responding to a distress call, and who made the distress call? We are not fools or illiterate not to know what is going on.”

—Yusuf Muhammed