Dpo accused of shooting a police officer dead in Lagos

Dpo accused of shooting a police officer dead in Lagos 

Family accuses DPO of shooting policeman dead

The family of Sergeant Onajide Onalaja has accused the Divisional Police Officer of the Ilemba Hausa Division , Yahaya Adesina , of shooting him dead in the Ilemba Hausa area of Lagos State .

PUNCH Metro gathered that after Onalaja was killed , the Divisional Traffic Officer of the station , Adekunle Ogundiji , reportedly contacted the victim’ s wife , Folasade , and told her that her husband was shot dead by armed robbers when a team of policemen was monitoring compliance with the lockdown at a checkpoint in the area .

Shocked by the information, Folasade requested to see her husband ’ s corpse, but she was told that it had been deposited in the Lagos Mainland Hospital’ s morgue in Yaba .

On getting to the mortuary , the mother of three observed bullet wounds on Onalaja’ s chest , adding that marks of torture were also observed on his body , because his uniform was torn.

She said , “ On Monday, May 11 , 2020 , a policeman, Adekunle Ogundiji , said my husband had a serious accident and urged me to look for money for his treatment . I asked where my husband was , but he told me to come , so I left Ijebu – Ode for the station .

“ I asked what killed him when I got there and was told that he was shot dead by armed men at a checkpoint in front of the station . I was told that four policemen were at the checkpoint and that they were passing vehicles when the armed men suddenly opened fire and shot my husband dead .

“ I demanded to see his corpse, but I was told that it had been deposited in the mortuary in Yaba . An officer, identified simply as Eko , took me to the mortuary but we could not see the corpse, because we had no document to present for identification . So, I became annoyed and started shouting at the policeman , because I didn ’ t know why he could not present the identification document.

“ The policeman started shivering and said , ‘ I no get hand oo , my hand no dey oo , I just come to work this morning , I still see Jide yesterday oo ’ . He later called his boss , who informed him that the person with the paper was in Ikorodu and that we would have to wait till the following day .

“ When I saw my husband ’ s corpse the next day , I did not believe the story they told me. I saw bullet wounds on his chest ; his uniform was rough ; he was no longer wearing a singlet; and his trousers had been torn.

“ I believe something strange happened before he died and I want an investigation . Later on , about four policemen hid their numbers when they called to inform me that the DPO , Yahaya Muhammed Adesina , shot my husband dead with a locally – made gun and I recorded the conversations . I have petitioned the Zone 2 Command , because I want justice . ”

In the audio recording made available to one of our correspondents , a policeman was heard saying the DPO had been trying to cover up the crime , adding that he told them to manipulate how the incident happened on Sunday, May 10 , 2020 .

The suspected policeman said , “ I will tell you everything . Yesterday , when that incident happened , the DPO ran to the CP and the DC to claim that it was not a police rifle , but he was told to face his warrant . Instead of him to tell you the truth when you came , he denied . The Area Commander has ordered his arrest and said we should record his statement while in detention .

“ They recorded his statement and the pump action gun that he used to fire has also been recovered. He has been begging that the statement should be changed , but I don’ t want anything to change in the statement . According to what I am hearing , they called from Abuja and a signal has been sent so that the case can be moved there . As he is begging that they should change the statement , I hope it won ’ t be changed .

“ Instead of him to confess , he is trying to manipulate and that guy ( Onalaja) was our colleague , that is why I didn ’ t accept . He ( Adesina ) is the one who killed that young man and was telling me nonsense in order to leave him . I will be giving you a feedback on any strange thing now that I have your number . Sorry !”

Onalaja’ s elder brother , Tunde , while demanding justice , urged the police authorities to investigate the case to unravel the true circumstances surrounding the killing .

When contacted on Sunday , Ogundiji said , “ I am not involved ; I am a DTO and we don’ t use rifles . I didn ’ t work on that day because I was in church . The account of what we heard was that a gunshot from somewhere hit him ( Onalaja) and the DPO. The DPO showed us the jacket where the pellets pierced through to destroy his two phones , and hit Onajide in the chest . ”

However , the state Police Public Relations Officer, Bala Elkana , said two persons had been arrested in connection with Onalaja’ s killing , adding that investigation was ongoing .

Elkana said in a statement on Sunday, “ On Saturday, May 16 , 2020 , around 3 pm, detectives from the Ilemba Hausa Police Station arrested one Kehinde Elijah , 45 . He is among the three suspects on the police wanted list for violent crimes . The second suspect, Ezeh Joseph, was arrested in his apartment at the Imude Pako area , Era Road , Ajangbadi , on May 17 , 2020 , around 6 am . He claimed to have deserted the military while undergoing basic military training .

“ They were arrested in respect of the shooting and killing of Sergeant Onalaja Onajide , who was attached to the Ilemba Hausa Division . The shooting happened on Sunday, May 10 , 2020 , around 9 . 40 pm, when gunmen fired at the DPO , Ilemba Hausa , and the Station Guard , Sergeant Onalaja Onajide . The DPO survived the gunshots , but Onalaja died from pellet wounds . An investigation led to the arrest of the two .

“ The first suspect was earlier at the station to solicit the release of his motorcycle , which was impounded by the police for violating the ban on the use of commercial motorcycles . Not happy with the DPOs refusal to release the motorcycle to him , he decided to launch the deadly attack . Investigation is ongoing . The suspects will soon be charged . ”