By: Felix Ikpotor
A police sergeant who shot dead a 38-year-old father of three, Abiodun Jimoh in Obio/ Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State is currently undergoing orderly room trial.
Jimoh was killed by a trigger-happy police sergeant in front of a police station in Elelenwo community.
Abiodun and his sibling, Ismaheel who are indigenes of Kwara State were dragged to the station by a patrol team after arresting them on a bike they were riding.
Narrating the incidet Ismaheel said:“On Friday night I was coming with my brother when Police stopped us with a patrol van. They searched us, saw our ID cards. When they saw nothing implicating, one of the senior officers told a restless junior officer to leave us.
“The defiant junior officer insisted we were criminals and he must take us to the station. My late brother entered their van, I pleaded to ride on my bike joined by one of them.
“I rode in front with the officer riding with me and the rest of the patrol team were coming behind with my brother. The edgy officer, who was on the bike with me started asking how much we have to bail ourselves.
“I told him I have N2,000. We got to School Road at Elelenwo, they asked me to drive into the Police station. I got there and parked. The senior officer returned our phones they earlier seized and asked me to go home and bring documents of my bike the next day. I agreed.
“The drunken police officer that shot my brother insisted he must do something bad to us. Again the senior officer still told him to leave us alone and that we should report back the next day with the bike’s documents.
“Immediately he started beating me, hitting me with the butt of his rifle. Other colleagues pleaded with him, he won’t listen. Before I knew it, I heard gunshots.
“I saw my brother lying down in pains. I heard two gunshots. One met my brother on the leg and the other hit one of the policemen. That was when the senior officer took the gun from him.
“He was still struggling with me but I forced my way to meet my brother. After rushing him to three hospitals without attention in a bid to save his life, I told them to take him to the hospital he registered for medical care.
“We got there but they did not attend to us. My brother had lost much blood then. We then moved to the Braithwaite Memorial Hospital. On our way, I was the only one with my brother in the truck of the patrol van. I tore my shirt to tie the bleeding leg. I was still telling him to keep hope alive.
“I was calling everyone to know what was happening. They heard my calls, stopped and asked me to give them back my phone. At that point, they drove roughly. I fell from the van, got injured and fell unconscious.
“They knew I fell but they didn’t even bother stopping. They sped off with my brother in the van. When I regained consciousness, I asked direction and took the vehicle to Slaughter where I saw some vigilantes and explained my ordeal.
“They sat me down and said I should be there for a while till early morning. My wife called my brother’s line, and it rang in his bag with me. That was when I realised my brother’s iPhone was left in the bag.
“I told my wife all that happened. The next morning, I told my brother’s wife and we had to go back to the Elelenwo Police Station whose entrance they shot my brother.”
Lamenting the death of her husband, Miss Jimoh said she has three young girls for her husband, saying that she doesn’t know who will take care of them.
“The three girls are six, four and one-year-old. Nobody to take care of my children now. They told me at the Elelenwo Division that they referred the case to the State Criminal Investigation Division, SCID, at Moscow Road.
“I got there they said I should wait for the DPO. The DPO called all officers on duty that day to narrate what they knew about the situation.
“But the person that killed my husband said my husband did not do anything. Another officer said he told his colleague to leave my husband and the brother who they held, but he insisted on taking them to cell. He just killed my husband for nothing”
Meanwhile, the Commissioner of Police, Rivers State, Joseph Mukan, has condemned the killing.
Mukan said: “The sergeant without justification shot Abiodun Jimoh who was immediately rushed to the hospital but later died. His remains have been deposited in the mortuary.
“The incident is being investigated and the outcome will be communicated to the public.
” Meanwhile, the Police Sergeant who carried out the dastardly act is in custody for debriefing and psychological evaluation. His Orderly Room Trial will commence in earnest, for possible arraignment.
“The command is in touch with the family and has commiserated with them over the unfortunate incident and has assured them that the interest of justice will be served in the circumstance, while appealing for calm and allow the law to take its full course.”
