Six policemen in custody for killing 33-year-old

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.

Our 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.

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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.