…We are investigating the matter – Police
The death of a Lagos resident identified as Temitope Oyetade who was chased by policemen from the Area P Command of the state has sparked outrage.
It was learnt that the deceased was stopped by police officers in mufti while he was on a bike heading to Oshodi from Ayobo on Wednesday morning.
The police officers searched the deceased, and allegedly accused him of being an internet fraudster.
In spite of his insistence that he was not a “yahoo boy,” the police allegedly brutalised him, cocked their guns, and chased him.
In a desperate bid to escape, the deceased ran and fell into a canal. He was later brought out and taken to a nearby hospital where he was diagnosed with several head injuries and placed on oxygen.
The deceased was referred to Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), where he passed on yesterday.
Eyewitnesses claimed that the policemen, seeing that the victim had fallen into the canal, took his money and his footwear and fled the scene when people started raising the alarm.
A friend of the deceased’s wife, Betty Omowunmi, narrated the tragic incident on X (formerly Twitter).
She said: “Yesterday morning, police chased my friend’s husband till he fell into the canal. They took his slippers and money that fell and left when people started shouting. This happened at Federal Bus Stop, Ipaja Ayobo axis.
“The officers were on mufti. They stopped him on bike, the bike man left. They searched him insisting he is a yahoo boy cos of his tattoos and started cocking their guns that they will shoot him, he started moving away saying he’s not and they started following him till he ran. He has given up! Yet to tell the wife as of now.
“All hands have been on deck to make sure the man survived which was why follow up at the station was not done. There are eye witnesses on this platform that saw the incident unfold.
“Thanks to some eye witnesses that have been able to point out two from the officers and cooperation of their dpo, they have been taken and detained at Area M where the Area commander is.
“He is dead. As of this afternoon, two amongst the officers have been detained at panti.”
Reacting, Benjamin Hundeyin, the Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) said: “Since we saw this video, we have been making concerted efforts to verify this claim but nothing has turned up yet. We have checked our records and no report has been made till now of this incident that the narrator explained happened yesterday.
“Nonetheless, our investigation is ongoing. The Area Commander covering that entire axis is personally on it. Anyone with additional and useful information should please reach out to us. We will keep the public updated on our findings.”
The Nation
