The Lagos State Police Command has commenced the orderly-room trial of the two Special Anti-Cultism Squad operatives involved in the killing Kolade Johnson, in the Onipetesi area of the state.
The command had revealed yesterday, the identities of the officers as Inspector Ogunyemi Olalekan and Sergeant Godwin Orji of the Special Anti-Cultism Squad.
According to PUNCH, the orderly-room trial commenced on Tuesday at the command’s headquarters.
The SACS operatives had on Sunday, March 31, 2019, stormed Olu Aboderin Street, Onipetesi, to arrest a man, identified as Ismail, who was seeing off his girlfriend to the bus stop, but residents protested against the arrest because they are of the opinion that Ismail was being unfairly targeted.
The victim was at the time watching a live football match between Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur at an eatery and came out to see what the rowdiness was about. One of the operatives allegedly fired some shots in the air to disperse the crowd, but a bullet hit Kolade where he stood and before he could be rushed to the hospital, he gave up the ghost.
Kolade’s aunt, Mrs Toluwani Lukman, said that the Commissioner of Police, Zubairu Mu’azu, during a condolence visit to the family on Tuesday, disclosed the decision to subject the officers to orderly-room trial.
She added that the CP urged the family to bring eyewitnesses along to the command to testify against the officers.
“The CP was here this morning (Tuesday) to pay the family a visit and he assured us that justice would be served. He said there would be orderly-room trial today (Tuesday) by 2pm and invited us to come along with Kolade’s friends and those who were there when the incident happened and were ready to talk. We want justice to be served,” she said.
The state Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Bala Elkana, confirmed the CP’s condolence visit to the deceased’s family in a statement, adding that Mu’azu assured the family that justice would be served.
“The Commissioner of Police Lagos State, Zubairu Mu’azu, today (Tuesday) paid a condolence visit to the family of Kolade Johnson.
“The CP was accompanied by the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of the Department of Finance and Administration, Ayuba Elkanah; Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of the Department of Operations, Mohammed Ali; Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of the Criminal Intelligence and Investigation Department, Yetunde Longe; and other senior police officers from the command.
“The Commissioner of Police was received by the head of the deceased’s family, Alhaji Remi Lukman, in the family’s residence at No. 1 Beco Street, Onipetesi, Mangoro bus stop.
“In his remarks, the CP condemned the action of members of the anti-cultism team suspected to have carried out the shooting and reiterated his commitment to ensuring that justice was served in the matter.
“He stated that the men suspected to have carried out the shooting had been apprehended and subjected to internal disciplinary procedures. He revealed their names as Inspector Ogunyemi Olalekan and Sergeant Godwin Orji attached to the Anti-Cultism Squad.”
Posted by Yetunde Adegoke
