6 Policemen Detained In Connection With Death Of Man

Six policemen have been arrested and detained at the Force
Criminal Investigations Department Annex, Alagbon, Ikoyi, Lagos State, for the
killing of a 33-year-old, Emmanuel Orimisan, in the Ilaje-Ajah area of the
state.

A Punch correspondent gathered that the six officers, whose
names had yet to be ascertained, were attached to the Special Anti-Robbery
Squad of the State Department of Criminal Investigation, Yaba.

They were said to have been rounded up on Wednesday,
September 30, after investigations showed that they were culpable in the
killing.

Punch Metro had reported on July 21, 2015, that the
officers, who trailed some suspected robbers to their alleged hideout in Ilaje
community in the Ilaje-Ajah area, caused confusion when they shot Orimisan
dead.

It had been reported that the deceased, said to be an
apprentice, was sleeping inside one of the buildings in the community and had
come out when he heard sporadic gunshots. The bullets hit him and he reportedly
died instantly.

Orimisan’s elder brother, Adeogo, had told Punch Metro that
the policemen, who accused the deceased of being a suspected robber, also took
away his corpse.

Punch Metro learnt that the policemen were, however,
arrested by operatives of the FCID and detained over the death of Orimisan.

A source close to the family told our correspondent that
petitions from the National Human Rights Commission and other human rights
groups which put pressure on the police, led to the eventual arrest of the
officers who had gone on the raid on that day.

He said, “There were six policemen who came to the area on
that day. All of them are now in custody. Since July, the police slowed down
investigations on the matter, but the family kept on writing petitions to the
right groups. Eventually, the six of them were picked up last week.

“They are in the cell as we speak, and there are indications
they will be taken to court before the end of the month.

“The boy was neither a cult member nor an armed robber as
the policemen initially claimed. He was not married and he lost his father just
last year. They shot him and also took his corpse away from the scene. But
after the pressure mounted on the police by rights groups, the officers have
now been arrested, and we learnt they will be taken to court very soon.”

The Force Public Relations Officer, ACP Olabisi Kolawole,
had yet to reply to a text message sent to her phone on the incident.