Posted by By Chris Anucha on
Surveyors in Nigeria are angry over the brutal murder of one of their colleagues by a policeman.
Surveyors in Nigeria are angry over the brutal murder of one of their colleagues by a policeman.
They want the head of the police officer who pulled the trigger that sent Mr. Bartholomew Oshomah to his early grave.
It would be recalled that Daily Sun, in its Thursday, December 1, edition reported exclusively the killing of the victim, who was a senior manager with the Flagship Properties and Estate Limited, Broad Street, Lagos, by Sergeant Afolabi Alegbe, on November 25, at the Berger Bus stop.
In a petition sent to the acting police commissioner , Lagos State, Mr. John Haruna, the body, under the aegis of the Nigerian Institute of Estate Surveyors and Valuers(NIESV) Lagos State branch, and signed by the chairman, Pastor Abiodun Oluwaluyi, said: "We are indeed saddened by this dastardly and extra-judicial killing of this dynamic young professional with immense potentialities."
NIESV further said in the petition dated December 13, that the death of their colleague had put the entire family of Oshomah and his professional colleagues in disarray.
"The wife, Mrs. Callista Oshomah is pregnant and one can imagine the trauma she is undergoing at this critical moment," the petitioners said.
It implored the acting CP to ensure the culprits were brought to book, adding: "We also demand that adequate compensation be paid to the deceased family so that the unborn child would have a guaranteed future."
As a follow-up to the petition, NIESV later briefed newsmen in Lagos, describing the murder of Oshomah as: "This is one unwarranted killing too many."
The body called on well-meaning Nigerians to prevail on the police authorities to call their men to order, adding that the killing of innocent persons at police check points should stop.
While recalling that the furore generated by "Apo six" killing was yet to subside, NIESV wondered why travelling by road had become dangerous just like travelling by air as the country has witnessed in the recent times due to misuse of firearms by some police officers.
The surveyors said: "Innocent people who did not have to travel by air where they could get killed by air crash should not be killed again on the ground by policemen. Or where else is now safe in Nigeria?"
It used the opportunity to call on the Federal Government to do something urgently to address the problems facing the aviation sector.
"If somebody was in the Ministry of Education and there were problems and he was sent to the Ministry of Aviation and there are problems, it sounds reasonable to have a second look at the desirability of having such a person as the Minister of Aviation in office," the petition stated.
It said if nothing was done quickly to arrest the spate of air crashes in the country, it would affect the economy as the hope of attracting foreign investors would be dimmed.