Chiemelie Ezeobi
Almost nine months after Inspector Musa Sunday of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) disappeared from radar while responding to a distress call, his body yesterday resurfaced at the Ibeju-Lekki waterfront.
Months of due diligence and undercover investigations however paid off as an informant who revealed that the community members were sworn to an oath of secrecy, tipped off the police.
When the informant took the police team to the waterfront, they dug up his decomposed body and his service rifle, an AK47.
When the body was found, the police immediately swung into action and arrested the Baale of Oshoroko Village, Chief Olusegun Oyeri, alongside three others who were identified as Aroki Badiru, Nasiru Isiaka and Akeem Balogun alias Apollo.
Confirming the incident, the state Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni, said the deceased was declared missing on November 29, 2016.
He said: “Inspector Musa Sunday disappeared from a scene of crime in Ibeju-Lekki when he and other officers were deployed to that axis from Ibeju up to Lekki Free Trade Zone.
“In the course of that patrol, they were alerted by the community of a communal fight between two families over land issues.
“Dutifully, they joined the informant but on getting there, one of the community callously turned against the patrol team and at the end of the fight, the team returned but without Sunday.â€
He said: “The next day, I went there and met the traditional rulers and elders of the community to appeal to them to release the inspector if they have him in their custody. They denied seeing him.
“We put together a team of policemen with technical support from the inspector general of police Intelligence Response Team (IRT) led by DSP Philips and they sustained investigations.
“Based on Intelligence report, nine months later, his decomposed body was found buried along the waterway with his service AK47.
“We swung into action and arrested the Baale of the community and three others. The law does not respect anyone and we use this to send a message to criminals pretending to be custodians of our culture.
“During investigation, we gathered that the Baale led the community in swearing an oath of secrecy to cover the crime and also he refused to produce his two sons that were also responsible.
“After our investigation, the suspects will be charged and arraigned in court for their acts of criminalities. Meanwhile, the search for other suspects continue.â€
Meanwhile, the Baale when interrogated denied involvement, adding that he had fingered the chief of the community but the police turned a deaf ear.
Meanwhile, the state police command yesterday arrested five persons in connection with acts of jungle justice after they lynched a yet-to-be identified man at the Oshodi area over allegations that he was a kidnapper.
This is coming on the heels of the arrest of 33 persons who were earlier picked up for acts of jungle justice at the Ijaiye-Ijokoro area and charged to court for murder and disturbance of public peace.
The arrested persons were identified as Ogbonna Nwankwo, Oyetunji Abimbola, Akeem Jimoh, Kingsley Okoro and Iris Adebisi.
The five suspects were arrested for instigating the mob that lynched the deceased over allegations that he attempted to kidnap two children at the Akinpelu area.
By the time the Akinpelu Police Division got to the scene, the deceased was already burnt to death, leaving his corpse for the police to take to the morgue.
Confirming the incident, the state Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni, said despite warnings to members of the public to desist from taking the law into their hands, these suspects enacted same act.
He said, “It is however appalling to note that despite this warning, some hoodlums descended on a yet-to-be identified man and lynched him to death under the guise that he is a kidnapper. Five suspects have been arrested.â€
Similarly, on Tuesday, August 15, a group of commercial motorcyclist popularly known as ‘okada’ who were prevented by the police from parking in front of National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) orientation camp located along Ipaja Road, Agege, abducted one Corporal Ojo Taiwo.
Speaking on this, Owoseni said he was rescued by a team of military personnel attached to the orientation camp and two of the perpetrators were arrested.
He said 12 abandoned motorcycles were recovered from the fleeing suspects and they will be charged to court in due time.
