Lawmaker gives IGP seven-day ultimatum to fish out those behind murder of 21-year-old man in Osun

The lawmaker, representing Ede North/Ede South/ Egbedore/Ejigbo Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, Hon Bamidele Salaam, on Thursday, issued a seven-day ultimatum to the Inspector General of the Police (IGP), Mr Mohammed Adamu, to fish out policemen allegedly involved in the chase of a young man, who eventually died in a car crash in Osogbo.

The 21-year-old young man, identified as Idris Ajibola, was in inside a Toyota Corolla car, alongside three of his friends on Tuesday when policemen in a van belonging to Joint Task Force (JTF) chased them until their vehicle rammed into a ditch along Oba Adesoji Aderemi East-West Bypass expressway, Osogbo, Osun State.

Idris died on the spot of the accident, while three other occupants of the car sustained severe injuries.

However, while addressing a press conference in Osogbo, Salaam, who had earlier visited the residents of the bereaved parents of the victim around Ofatedo, in Egbedore local government area of the state said the IGP should as a matter of urgency ensure the identification of police officers involved in the incident and bring them to justice.

He also called on Osun State government to constitute a panel of enquiry, where members of the public can give testimony over the circumstances pursuit of the young men inside the car and the gruesome death of Idris.

Salaam maintained that he would approach a court of law to demand the arrest of the policemen involved in the incident and claim exemplary and calculated damages for the family of late Idris Ajibola.

While decrying the failure of Police to produce the officers involved in what he termed the needless and illegal chase of the boys in the car, the lawmaker argued that “I am here in respect of Idris Ajibola, a member of my constituency, who was murdered in cold blood through the reckless acts of some officers of the Nigeria Police Force.

Salaam stated that “I was with the parents of the deceased about an hour ago. After hearing the sad news, I decided that it will be good to give the Police benefit of the doubt on what needs to be done when a matter like this happens.

“Idris Ajibola would have been 21 on the 3rd of October, 2020. He was a young son of a peasant farmer mother and an artisan father, who eke out a living through plumbing work. He was a young man who lived with his parents in their ramshackle house at Ofatedo, in Egbedore local government area of Osun State.”

“He was one of the hopes of that family. He went to school finished his secondary school education and decided to enrol as an apprentice in a technology training centre and was hoping that one day he would be a blessing to his family and of course to the society. Most sadly and unfortunately, he is no more here because some people being paid with public funds for the purpose of protecting lives and properties decided to vent their frustration, anger and greed.”

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“These incidents of Police picking on young Nigerians for whatever reasons, either holding a laptop, phones, wearing expensive shoes or clothes or in nice cars and are picked by policemen and profiled as internet fraudsters and then chased on to their death or humiliated must come to an end.”

“This incident happened 48 hours ago and as we speak, there is no arrest of any of the perpetrators. The only thing I heard is the setting up of an investigation panel. 48 hours after the incident, there is no record of anyone being paraded or arrested for chasing those young boys to their destructive end where one of them lost his life”, Salaam lamented.

Meanwhile, the Osun State Chapter of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) has called on the Inspector-General of Police, Mr Mohammed Adamu, to ensure that the security personnel involved in the incident are identified and prosecuted to serve as a deterrent to others.

A statement signed by its chairman, Wasiu Ajadosu on Thursday stated that sweeping the case under the carpet would further encourage extrajudicial killings within the police.

NIGERIAN TRIBUNE