The police have arrested the Special Anti Robbery Squad officer who fired the shot that killed an undergraduate of a polytechnic in Edo State, Joseph Eidonojie-Ugbeni.
It was learnt that the suspect was nabbed on Friday shortly after Punch Metro published the report. A Punch correspondent had reported that some SARS officers, who were chasing a suspected Internet fraudster at the Ogoja Market along LASU-Igando Road, had started shooting sporadically.
The bullet was said to have hit 20-year-old Joseph in the head, while his cousin, Friday Ojah, fled to avoid been killed.
Ojah had told Punch that the policemen took Joseph’s corpse and dumped it in the boot of the fraudster’s car, before driving away to the command headquarters in Ikeja, Lagos.
It was gathered on Sunday that the officer that fired the shot had been arrested and taken to the scene of the incident.
A source said, “He was arrested on Friday and taken in handcuffs to the place where the incident happened.”
A legal practitioner and friend of the victim’s family, Saheed Sanni, said the family had decided to petition the Inspector-General of Police on the case to demand justice for the victim.
It was learnt that the suspected fraudster, Badoo, who the officers were allegedly chasing on the day of the incident, had reported at the command headquarters. A source said the suspect had been detained.
He said, “Badoo lives in that community and is popular; the SARS officers also know him. He was not their target that day. They had actually conducted a raid and arrested some people. They were leaving when they sighted him in his car. They called his name and he quickly abandoned his car and fled.
“He had just returned from the bank that day. Badoo had travelled to South Africa and had recently returned to the community.”
The victim’s father, Patrick Eidonojie-Ugbeni, demanded justice for the son.
He said, “The Badoo they were chasing showed up on Friday at the SARS office with his lawyer and parents. I met the Officer-in-Charge of SARS as well. They shot my son in the head and they claimed that he had a gun and that they shot him in self-defence. How is that possible when he was shot in the head from behind? All I want now is that the police should release the post-mortem result and the police report on the incident.”
The Police Public Relations Officer, SP Dolapo Badmos, said the case had been transferred to the homicide section of the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department for discreet investigation.
She said, “The state Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni, has directed that the case be investigated by the homicide section. We will come out with the full report at the conclusion of investigation.”