. We’re being ill-treated because we are poor, says victim’s brother
Some residents of Lagos State have appealed to the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, to investigate the alleged killing of a physically challenged cleaner, Francis Eni Idum, by an operative of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad in the Ilupeju area last year.
Idum was allegedly killed in 2019 by a SARS officer attached to the Ladipo Police Division and identified as Akeem Mohammed, popularly called Skoda.
Only penultimate Saturday, a SARS officer in Ogun State allegedly killed a footballer, Tiamiyu Kazeem in Sagamu.
Residents of Ilupeju confirmed that the slain cleaner was on his way to work when he was hit by a stray bullet allegedly fired by the SARS operative who was after some miscreants around the community.
Efforts made by residents of the area to bring the killer-SARS operative to book were said to have failed as the police authorities had yet to take any serious action against him.
Following the recent killing of a footballer in Sagamu, Ogun State, concerned Nigerians have once again appealed to the IGP to institute an investigation into the alleged killing of the physically challenged cleaner with the killer-SARS operative punished appropriately.
A community leader in Ilupeju, Palmgrove, Adewale Kazeem, said, “Now that the IGP has demonstrated that he is a no-nonsense man with SARS, he should also investigate the case of the hunchback that was killed in our community here. The government and the police decided to be silent over the matter because the poor man has no one at the top. But because the Sagamu footballer has people, especially his football club, everyone rose to the occasion, and this is totally sad. If IGP and Lagos police commissioner want to proof their worth on the job, they should reopen that case and bring Skoda to book.”
Another resident of the area, Omolola Olasanya, also said, “It is good that the IGP has sanctioned SARS, but he should also investigate the case of that hunchback that was killed in Lagos. The police in Lagos covered the case despite the cries by the family, but God’s judgment is coming on them.”
Meanwhile, the younger brother of the deceased cleaner, Sunday Idum, has urged the police authorities to look into the killing of his brother.
According to him, “They neglected our calls for investigation because we are ordinary citizens. My brother’s body was dumped inside a container after killing him for one month before we recovered it to put it in the morgue. Autopsy was done and police received the result and kept quiet up till now. They know what they are doing is to cover Skoda, but God will judge them. Initially, some of them at Panti, who pretended to be investigating the case, collected money from us and at the end nothing was done.
“When we were tired, we had to retrieve my brother’s body from the mortuary after two months for burial. Our father, who is bedridden with stroke, is still asking about him and we keep telling him he’s fine in Lagos, unknown to him that SARS has killed him. If police are sincere and serious about SARS killings, they should investigate my brother’s death. If not, their integrity means nothing and they remain killers before Nigerians.”
Sunday also said several petitions had been written to the police authorities such as the Lagos police commissioner, Assistant Inspector General of Police in charge of Zone 2 and Area F Command in Lagos, but none of them had taken any action on the matter.
