…How my boss was shot, killed by policeman, says lawyer
…DPO is culpable because they take instructions directly from him, says lawyer
…killing not done under normal mental health -activist
… Police must ensure that justice is done-Lawyer
… NBA Human Rights Committee to meet CP. Lagos
Juliana Francis
A female lawyer, Yvonne, a member of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), has explained how her boss, Barrister Omobolanle Raheem, was shot and killed by an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), identified as Vandi, attached to Ajiwe Police Station opened fire on her boss’s car.
Yvonne, who sounded distraught, has written thus: “I am Barrister Yvonne, a member of the NBA Lagos Branch. Sir I tried reaching out to you, but I guess you are busy. My boss Barr Omobolanle Raheem was shot dead today, by a police officer on her way back from Xmas Service at Ajah under the bridge. Her family just called me now, that they needed a lawyer to stand in for them before the police changed the narrative.
“They have taken the matter to Ajiwe Police Station. The police officer is from Ajiwe Station. Her husband was the one driving, Barr. Omobolanle was seated in the front with her husband.
“The officer asked them to park and they needed the vehicle in front to move so they could park well, and immediately the police officer shot at a close range right into her chest. On seeing what happened, the remaining police officers on duty there absconded.
After a while, some policemen came and moved her body to the mortuary in Yaba , without obtaining any consent from her family members. Currently, her family has located where they moved her body to.”
Incidentally, Raheem would be the second victim killed in less than four weeks by the personnel from the same police station.
The first victim, Gafaru Buraimoh was shot dead by a policeman from Ajiwe Police Station on the 7th of December 2022, while Raheem was shot dead on the 25th of December by an ASP from Ajiwe Police Station.
The incident has naturally attracted the ire of human rights activists.
The Executive Director of Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy (RULAAC), Okechukwu Nwanguma said: “Of course, such unprovoked and unwarranted shooting of a Lagos-based female lawyer by an Assistant Superintendent of Police could not have been done under normal mental condition. This underscores the need to periodically conduct psychological evaluations of police officers, especially those who bear arms.”
A human rights lawyer, Barrister Sam, said: “We will report the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) to the Police Service Commission (PSC) without wasting time, he is culpable for professional misconduct. The DPO has a strict obligation to monitor the men he deploys to police at his divisional Command because they report to him. If this officer is in the surveillance team then it is worst for the DPO because they take instructions directly from the DPO and not the Divisional Crime Officer.”
Another human rights lawyer, Samuel, said: “It is the height of inhumanity to shoot at an unarmed innocent citizen unprovoked. This underscores the urgent need to look into the mental health of the men we entrust with our arms and ammunition. This is a crime one too many and the police must ensure that justice is done.”
A human rights activist, Ambassador Onaga said: “When will our Police be purged of this madness? Who will save Nigerians from their Police? Even on Christmas Day Police is trigger hungry and happy against law-abiding citizens while they are trigger-scared and trigger cowards against criminals that are all over the place in Nigeria. As a matter of fact, they had better entered into collusion with criminals to benefit and make ordinary citizens suffer and lick their wounds.”
It was gathered that members of NBA Lagos Branch Human Rights Committee led by Mrs. Tam George have met with the DPO of Ajiwe Police Station and will meet with the Commissioner of Police later today to emphasize their mandate of ensuring that justice was neither delayed nor denied.
