Policeman, driver killed in Ogun mayhem

Ogun State Commissioner of Police, Ikemefuna Okoye
 

One of the policemen mobbed in Iperu, Ogun State by the colleagues of the bus driver shot and killed by Corporal Samson Yusuf in the town died on Saturday.

Our correspondent gathered that Corporal Jegede Ayodele, whose head was shattered during the mob attack on the police patrol team in the area following the killing of the commercial bus driver identified as Friday Sunday, died while being rushed from a private hospital in Iperu to the Federal Medical Centre, Abeokuta.

The killing of Sunday by Corporal Samson had sparked off violent protests in the town near the Sapade axis of the Lagos/Ibadan expressway.

Sunday, who was conveying bags of garri in a Mazda bus marked KSF 432 XZ, was said to have been shot dead by the policeman for allegedly refusing to stop at a checkpoint.

Immediately, Sunday’s colleagues went on rampage and attacked a patrol team, setting a police van ablaze.

They were also said to have brutalised members of the police patrol team. A combined team of riot and regular policemen prevented the mob from attacking and razing the Iperu police station.

However, by Saturday evening, peace had returned to the troubled town.

Confirming the death of the policeman, the Ogun State Police Public Relations Officer, Muyiwa Adejobi, said the policeman who shot and killed the commercial bus driver had also been lying critically ill in a hospital following the injuries he sustained during the mob attack.

Adejobi, an assistant superintendent of police said, “We are investigating. The policeman who shot the driver is also hospitalised. It’s a subject of investigation and he can’t go scot-free.”

The Ogun State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Ikemefuna Okoye, who paid a condolence visit to the drivers at Iperu Motor Park and the home of the deceased, expressed deep regret about the incident.

Okoye assured them that the policeman would face the law and the consequences of his action.

He stressed that the command was not in support of the crime committed by Corporal Yusuf, adding that primary duty of the police was the protection of lives and property.

“I want to assure you that we are not happy about the incident as policemen are meant to protect lives and property of the people. We are not happy with what he has done and justice will take his course on the matter,” he said.

Okoye therefore appealed to the drivers in the area to continue to maintain peace in order to ensure progress, adding that they should continue to cooperate with the police.

At the residence of the deceased, the commissioner of police condoled with his aged mother and promised that their son would not die in vain.

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source:punchng.com