Posted by By OLA AGBAJE and OLUWATOYOSI OGUNSEYE on
A commercial motorcyclist has suffered a cruel fate in Lagos for failing to meet the N20 demand of a policeman.
A commercial motorcyclist has suffered a cruel fate in Lagos for failing to meet the N20 demand of a policeman. He was allegedly clubbed to death by the cop. Twenty-two-year-old Chinedu Ome allegedly had his skull smashed with baton by one Constable Wilson attached to Adekunle Police Station, Yaba when he failed to pay a N20 illegal toll.
Chinedu met his tragic death at about 5.00p.m on August 26, at Alagomeji Bus Stop Ebute- Metta, opposite Total Filling Station, where he was accosted by Wilson.
According to an eye-witness account, the rider of commercial motorcycle popularly known as Okada had told the policeman that he was off duty that day and had used the money on him to buy fuel to work the following day.
The eye-witness, who preferred anonymous, said further: 'But the policeman was not happy with his explanation, so he wanted to seize the key of the Okada because the boy did not drop anything. The boy said: ‘Oga please make I pass I go see you tomorrow'. As he wanted to move the motorcycle, the policeman just hit him right on the head. The boy fell down and blood was gushing out of his head.
'When the officer saw what happened, he was afraid and took to his heels. As he was running away, other Okada riders, who had gathered, pursued and caught him. He was forced to arrange for the boy to be taken to the hospital as he did not die on the spot. Other policemen also joined ," he said.
Chinedu's brother, Samuel Ome, corroborated the account, explaining that his brother did not die until the following day, August 27, 2005.
In tears, Samuel narrated how his younger brother battled for life, unaided either by the police or the hospital. 'Chinedu did not die until the evening of the following day at the General Hospital, Lagos Island. He died around 6.00p.m," he said.
According to him, Chinedu could have survived the incident but for the failure of the police to furnish the hospital with police report.
'They just watched my brother bleed and bleed and bleed. The policeman that took him to the hospital did not bring the report. The hospital people refused to treat him, because there was no report from the police. That is the most wicked thing. They just watched my brother suffer and suffer like that for nothing until he died. My brother cried that he was about to die and that they should save him, but nobody cared. This country is wicked," he said.
On the whereabouts of the killer cop, Ome said: 'The police arrested him and they are detaining him now at Panti, the state CID. The officers told us that the family of Constable Wilson wants us to settle the matter. But I don't know what they want to settle when he killed my brother for doing nothing. Dem no even let me see him again forever. That is why we want government to put mouth in this matter because we are poor. Life no pass life. We were just two children for our parents, now Wilson com kill Chinedu like that. That is wicked. Now I am alone," he said with tears streaming down his face.
A close relation of the deceased, Mr James Eze, also expressed shock that the boy was killed by a policeman over extortion.
Eze, a protocol officer with the Ebonyi State Government, described the news of Chinedu's death as rude shock and condemned the police role in the incident.
'Despite that the boy was killed by one of their officers, the police abandoned the boy at the hospital, and to make the matter worse, they refused to provide the police report that could authorise the hospital staff to commence treatment.
On the fate of Wilson, Eze said he was still being held at the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID). 'He is in detention now. He is there, but we have not reached any agreement with the family. Chinedu is still there in the mortuary at the General Hospital, Lagos Island.
'I can assure you that our expectation is for justice to be done in the matter. We are watching how the police will handle the matter. At the moment, we have not seen any serious development," he said.
Meanwhile, the officer in charge of homicide at Panti, Mr Johnson Adeinikan, said the alleged killer cop would soon be made to face the music.
According to him, 'the police cannot cover any criminality from their own men. Anybody that engages in criminal activities and is caught would face the full weight of the law. Hence, the suspect in the Ome killing will soon be arraigned in court. It is as simple as that."