Ismaeel Uthman
THE Inspector General of Police, Usman Alkali Baba, has queried the Commissioner of Police in the State of Osun, Mr Olawale Olokode, over the killing of a 28-year-old man, Abiola Afolabi, by policemen.
In a letter referenced CZ: 7050/IGP.SEC/ABJ/VOL 145/23, the IGP asked Olokode to ‘review and respond’ to the issues, allegations and claims contained in a petition sent to his office on Afolabi’s death.
Afolabi was shot by the police during a raid on the residence of his friend, Mathew Adedokun, at Zone II, Osogbo, around 1am on Monday, April 4, 2022.
The police had earlier, through a press statement by its Public Relations Officer, Mrs Yemisi Opalola, claimed that Afolabi, his friend, Adedokun and a lady were armed robbery suspects who engaged the police in gun duel which resulted to his death.
However, in a petition directed to the IGP by a legal practitioner, Barr. Muftau Adediran, the family of the deceased accused the police of unlawfully and gruesomely killing Afolabi.
Afolabi’s family accused the State Commissioner of Police, Olokode, of attempting to cover the case up and compromise investigations on the matter.
The family asked the IGP to takeover the case and order discreet investigations on the matter with a view to bring the perpetrators to book.
The petition dated April 10, 2022 was is titled: Unlawful, Unjustified and Gruesome Murder of One Olufemi Abiola Afolabi by men of the Anti-Thuggery Squad of the State Criminal Investigations Department, Osun State Command And The Attempt Of The State Commissioner of Police To Cover It Up And Compromise The Investigation.
Adediran, counsel to the family stated in the petition that: “The actions of the aforementioned policemen are not only extra-judicial, it is also callous and criminal, to put it in subtle ways. Abiola Oluremi Afolabi, a promising and vibrant young man, who had been murdered in cold blood by the policemen committed no offence, and was accused of none.
“The most curious and disheartening aspect of the whole incident was that, instead of the Osun State Police Command to swing into action, purge its belly of bad eggs by making identifying and bringing the policemen who attacked and gruesomely killed Abiola Oluremi Afolabi to book, the Command is heartlessly turning the table on the dead boy and his friends who were lucky to be alive, claiming they are armed robbers. What a cruel way to give a dog a bad name to willy-nilly hang it!
“It is, therefore, on the strength of the foregoing that we call on Your Honour Sir, to use your good offices to intervene in this matter, by ordering a discreet investigation into same under Your Honour’s personal supervision with a view to bringing the erring policemen who murdered Abiola to book.
“In a not distant past, the country, particularly, the South West of Nigeria witnessed an avoidable but unfortunate protest that rocked the entire nation: the immediate cause of that protest was police brutality. We are all living witnesses of the ripple effect of the avoidable protests.
“The country cannot afford to witness a repeat of such a protest so soon again. We are confident that Your Honour will do everything lawfully necessary to ensure that the erring policemen answer for the aforesaid unlawful acts of theirs.”
Responding through a letter dated April 22, 2022, the IGP forwarded a copy of the petition to Olokode and asked him to review and furnish response not later than May 20, 2022.
A copy of the letter which was sighted by OSUN DEFENDER yesterday reads: “The Inspector General of Police directs that you review and furnish response not later than 20/05/2022.”
