A Lagos-based businessman, Temitope Oyetade, has been pronounced dead by medical experts at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) after falling inside a canal in Ayobo, Alimosho Local Government during a chase by policemen attached to the state command.
Oyetade was pronounced dead barely two days after the policemen from Area M Command chased him into the canal while trying to apprehend the deceased over an internet fraud link in the state.
Meanwhile, two of the suspected policemen have been identified and detained at the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) in Panti for interrogation after being identified by eyewitnesses.
Narrating circumstances that resulted in Oyetade’s death on Friday, a Lagos-based trader, Betty Omowunmi, said that the deceased was on a commercial motorcycle popularly called Okada heading to Oshodi from Ayobo on Wednesday morning when police officers in mufti stopped the motorcycle.
Omowunmi, who claimed that the deceased was her friend’s husband, added that the police officers searched him briefly before they began to accuse him of being an internet fraudster.
She alleged that eyewitnesses disclosed to her and other members of the search party that the law enforcement officers justified their claims with tattoos on the deceased.
Alleging that the policemen didn’t let Oyetade defend himself before they became violent during the search, the trader stated that they threatened to shoot him.
“As soon as they did, he took to his heels in fear. The policemen pursued him for a long distance. While he was running, his money fell out of his pockets, and he left his slippers, but the police went away with them afterwards.
“Oyetade kept running until he fell into the canal at Moshalashi. Seeing this, the officers left the scene and entered their bus. Bystanders raced to the scene and rushed him to LASUTH where he was placed on oxygen before passing away in the wee hours of Friday”, she added.
Omowunmi noted that the Lagos Police Command’s denial prompted them to seek the assistance of bystanders who identified the policemen involved in the act.
“Good evening, we have been able to identify two out of the police officers (involved in the act) and they have been taken to (SCID) Panti.
We hope they mention others and justice gets served”.
Reacting to the allegations, the spokesperson for Lagos Police Command, Benjamin Hundeyin, denied the allegations raised by Omowunmi, stating that the officers never had any engagement with the deceased.
Hundeyin, in a statement released on the allegations, said: “The police visited the scene and met eyewitnesses on ground who voluntarily gave their statements regarding the unfortunate incident.
“At about 10am on Wednesday, October 16, 2024, somewhere around Gowon Estate, the young man was a passenger on a motorcycle riding against traffic. Immediately they sighted the police approaching in their vehicle, the rider made a sharp U-turn while the passenger jumped off the motorcycle, crossed the road, and ran through the nearby tipper garage.
“People in the garage who saw him running towards the canal and at the same time emptying the contents of his pockets agitatedly warned him about a canal ahead. He did not stop but unfortunately jumped into the canal.
“The police officers, startled at his knee-jerk reaction, stopped their vehicle, alighted, and went in the direction of the canal. The people around informed the police that the young man jumped into the canal. They all went to look, waited some minutes, and did not see him, upon which the police left, believing he successfully evaded them.
“The police officers did not speak with him, did not touch him, did not chase him, did nothing. The young man simply saw them and bolted.”.
Meanwhile, he disclosed that the Commissioner of Police, CP Olanrewaju Ishola has declared that unprofessional conduct would not be condoned.
