A member of the Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria, Saki branch, Oyo State, Mr Alimi Akeem a.k.a. Sakilayewa, was on Wednesday shot dead by a trigger-happy policeman, on Saki-Okerete Road over N100 extortion.
The policeman, popularly called Yellow, was said to be attached to border patrol as at the time of the incident which occurred at about 4:00p.m.
Nigerian Tribune gathered that the victim, who plied Saki to Okerete, was on his way back to Saki when he passed through a checkpoint mounted by Yellow and another policeman at Orita Sanni area, close to Saki town.
Information gathered revealed that the policemen at the checkpoint usually extorted N100 from motorists plying the route.
On the fateful day, late Akeem, who drove a Peugeot 504 (Wagon) with registration number AA 997 KMR, did not see Yellow on getting to the checkpoint, but reportedly gave N100 to the young man working as the policeman’s boy, after which he drove on.
Yellow, who was said to have noticed the dust raised by Akeem’s vehicle, mounted his motorcycle and chased the driver, with the belief that he tried to evade paying the usual N100.
On closing up with the driver, Yellow reportedly shot at one of the vehicle tyre, prompting the deceased to ask why he acted so.
The question was said to have infuriated the policeman, making him to shoot the driver on the head at close range.
The RTEAN chairman, Saki branch, Alhaji Muraina Ekuntakoro, who also spoke with the Nigerian Tribune, said that when the case was reported at Saki police station, the policemen refused to follow them to the scene of the incident, asking that the RTEAN members should bring the corpse to the station.
The solicitor, acting on behalf of the transport association, Sarafadeen Lateef, while speaking with the Nigerian Tribune, described the policeman’s action as brutal and inhuman, saying that the said Yellow had been known for his unruly behaviour not expected of a police officer of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
In a petition dated March 10, 2016 and written to the Assistant Inspector General of Police, Zone Eleven, Osogbo, Osun State, a copy of which was sent to the Nigerian Tribune, the lawyer recalled that the same policeman also caused the untimely death of a motorist along Ago Amodu in Saki East Local Government Area in 2014/2015 but was not punished.
Nigerian Tribune’s investigations revealed that the policeman was not serving under the Oyo State Police Command but was attached to force headquarters and posted for border patrol.
He was said to have disappeared since the incident and yet to report himself to the Nigeria Police Force or the nearest police station.
When contacted, the state Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Adekunle Ajisebutu, confirmed the story, saying that the Commissioner of Police, Leye Oyebade, had ordered an investigation into the matter. (Tribune)