Kunle ADELABU
-As Hon. Agunbiade appeals to
The Lagos State Police Commissioner has assured the family of late Adijat Sikiru, the 17 years old Senior Secondary School girl killed by a stray bullet shot by a police Raider, Sergeant Mudi Emmanuel, on Monday, March 18, 2019, at Adamo in Ikorodu.
Lagos Police Command visited the family at 11, Akaun Street, Adamo, on Friday, March 22, to commiserate with the family of the deceased.
The Police Commissioner was represented by the Deputy Commissioner of Police in-charge of State Criminal Intelligence Investigation (SCIIB), Panti, DCP Yetunde Longe.
DSP Longe, while speaking during the visit, stated:
“Our intention today is just to pay condolence to the family and offer them our sympathy.
“We are going to send our detectives back here to do a thorough investigation into the matter.
“I just want to assure you that in the Lagos State Police Command, we are trying as much as possible to be professional in our dealings. We shall be just and discreet about our investigation. You should not just worry”.
The deputy police commissioner stated that the Police Command would see to the prosecution of the officer in question after the completion of investigation.
She stated that the Commissioner of Police is fully involved in the matter and that is the reason he sent her to commiserate with the mother and family of the deceased.
She assured that the matter would not be swept under the carpet.
Longe also stated that the corpse of Adijat is yet to be released because the police is trying to conduct a post mortem examination on her remains for the prosecution of the policeman and once everything is in place for the prosecution, the remains of the late girl will be released for burial.
Speaking with the press at the Imota Police Station, the Deputy Commissioner of Police said that she has been to the family of the victim, to scene of the incident and at the Imota police station to meet with the officers.
The Majority Leader of the Lagos State House of Assembly and the representative of Ikorodu Constituency I, Hon. Sanai Agunbiade, while thanking the Lagos Police Command for its intervention, also appealed to the bereaved mother and family to allow proper investigation to be carried into the killing.
“I appeal to the family to allow due process to be carried out in accordance with the law. It is not enough to seek for the remains of your daughter for burial.
“No amount of money that can be given to you that can bring back your late daughter to life. It’s even possible that police would offer you money and you reject it because such can never be equated to your daughter that you lost to the recklessness of a police officer.
“But the important thing is that you must allow what is ought to be done to be done”.
He allayed the fear of the family that the police is planning to sweep the matter under the carpet, adding that that will be impossible to do since the Ayangbure of Ikorodu and other stakeholders in Ikorodu have intervened.
“Aside the fact that police authority in Lagos State is here today, the Ayangbure of Ikorodu has also intervened in the matter and you can also see his representatives here with us. Also, we have equally involved the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), Ikorodu, and other stakeholders in the matter.
“Instead of asking for the immediate burial of your daughter, what we are asking the police authority is if they have concluded their investigation? Have they completed the post mortem and issue certificate? “ he stated.
“Since all these have not been done, I plead that we should allow the police to carry out necessary procedures so that we can get justice that we are all seeking for.
Representatives of the Ayangbure of Ikorodu, Otunba Ayodele Elesho (siiting left) and Alhaji Ogidi (sitting right) with others during the visit of the police commissioner to Akaun home of the deceased 17 years old Adijat killed by a police spray bullet
“The Deputy Police Commissioner has told us that they are going to dismiss the officer in question after which he is going to face trial for the murder of the girl.
“There is no way they can sweep the matter under the carpet because the matter has gone beyond here which is why the Commissioner of Police is here with us. So also is Oba Shotobi, lawyers in Ikorodu and I have also been with you as your representative. So also are the members of the media that have been reporting the matter to the world.
“It is now a global thing because it is now trending on the social media. Let me assure you that there is no way such matter can be swept under the carpet”.
Hon. Agunbiade also assured that aside that the officer in question will be prosecuted, they are also fighting for compensation for the family.
“I can assure you that your daughter can never die in vain and the officer responsible for her death shall also be brought to justice. The Deputy Commissioner of Police has said it and we have no reason to doubt her, so also the new Commissioner of Police and the new Area N Commander.
“We are not asking you to let go of the matter but we are only appealing that you should allow due process to take its course. We engage the services of all the lawyers in Ikorodu because we are interested in the matter and you can also see the intervention and cooperation of the police authority”.
The ranking lawmaker then appealed to the police authority to expedite action on their investigation and the prosecution of the officer responsible for Adijat’s death so that the family can have the remains of their daughter for proper burial.
“I appeal to the Deputy Commissioner of Police to help us report back to the Commissioner of Police that the entire Ikorodu people are demanding for justice for the society and justice for the family in line with the administration of criminal justice in the new law”, Hon. Agunbiade appealed.
“We appreciate your coming and we expect the police to pay compensation to the family and our lawyers shall follow this up”.
He also revealed that a legal team to represent the family has also been put in place and that the team shall formally notify the Lagos Police Command.
“While our legal officers shall make a formal petition to the police on the deceased, seized vehicles and the wounded man at the hospital, we also expect the police to help us expedite action on the matter to further assuage the feelings of the people”.
Hon. Agunbiade speaking with the Chairman, NBA, Ikorodu branch and other lawyers after the parley parley with the police commissioner
The lawmaker told the police team led by the deputy Commissioner of Police that the incident that led to the death of Adijat was very pathetic.
“Ma, it was a very pathetic situation but we don’t want to go into all of that in order not to raise people’s feelings unnecessarily”.
A public commentator who witness the incident, Mr Heritage, speaking at the meeting, challenged Hon. Agunbiade to see the matter to a logical conclusion.
“I thank SOB Agunbiade for his intervention and effort so far. It’s quite moving but some will see all these as politics which is why you need to see this matter to a logical conclusion.
“Personally, I believe that all you have said are real and I know that you will not allow the matter to be swept under the carpet.
“I have reported this particular matter to the Minister of Internal Affairs. I witnessed what happened. This is a situation that doesn’t have to open”.
While narrating how the whole thing happened, Mr Heritage also called a press release by the Lagos Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) on the matter as blatant lies.
“The officer in question first fired a shot before he went across and eventually killed the same victim.
“I called him aside and ask him why he was doing what he did because there was no danger. All the bulletin by the police force were blatant lies. It was a 360 degree concoction from the original situation.
He called for a random drug-testing for police officers to make them behave professionally.
“I have sent something to the Inspector-General of Police and the Lagos Commissioner of Police that it is becoming apparent now that police officers have to be drug-tested randomly. We have to start doing that now because if this guy was not drunk, there is no way he would have done that”.
Mrs Yemisi Balogun, a civil servant who spoke on behalf of the family, demanded for the release of the two vehicles that are being detained at Imota police station, care for another victim of the incident at the orthopedic hospital who she alleged that was also shot by the Imota police station DPO.
Hon. Agunbiade with DSP Longe and the Commandant, Area N, Ijede
“I want to thank our honourable. Personally, I have told the family that we should forget the issue of burial for now and allow the police to do necessary the procedures.
“But we still have the two vehicles used in conveying the corpse of our daughter to the police station in the custody of the police in Imota.
“The vehicle were damaged by the police unprovoked. We want those vehicles released because owners are just sympathizers who are earning their daily bread from the vehicles.
“There is also someone at the Orthopedic hospital in Igbobi. It was the DPO that shot him and not the other officer that killed our girl.
“It was the DPO that also shot the vehicles tyres as well ”, she alleged.
She also deplored the action of the policemen when the family visited the station on March 20.
“In addition, when we went to Imota Police station on Wednesday, March 20, the way we were treated by the police is making me finding it difficult to believe that police officers are human beings or friends of the public.
“Right inside the police station after the DPO had permitted us to see the vehicles, one officer was behaving abnormally towards us. Looking at his face, one will see that he was drunk right inside the station”, she stated.
