When on June 13, 2013, the Ebun family went to pick
up their son, Jide, from the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos,
everybody was happy because the 17-year-old boy had been in Canada where he was
schooling and had not seen his family for two years.
The family comprising the father, Olusegun, the
mother, Funke, the first son, Jide, the only daughter, Damilola, and the last
child, nine-year-old Timilehin, were in a Sports Utility Vehicle, a Nissan
Pathfinder, with registration number HD844EKY.
Timilehin sat in the centre of the back seat with
his two siblings where he was playing a hand-held game.
The nine-year-old boy and his father were engaged
in an argument as regards his future ambition. While the little boy said he
wanted to be a footballer, his father advised him to go to the university to
study medicine after which he could go ahead to become a footballer.
The reunion was however short-lived. On getting
to Mile 12 end of Ikorodu Expressway, a police stray bullet pierced through the
windscreen of the vehicle and killed Timilehin on the spot.
Our correspondent, who visited the family home of
the deceased on Sunday, saw sympathisers coming in droves to condole with the
family.
The deceased’s father told PUNCH Metro
that the police had stolen their joy.
He said life would never be the same without the
little boy who was full of life and was always making the house lively.
Narrating what transpired on the fateful day, he
said, “Jide had been away for two years and my plan was to go and visit him in
Toronto, Canada. However, he said he missed his siblings and wanted to come
home to see them. So, we decided to let him come. On that day, we went to pick
him up at the airport. We were on our way back home at Ikorodu.
“On getting to Kosofe Bus Stop at Mile 12, we saw
policemen trying to extort money from a commercial bus driver who had climbed
the culvert to drive back towards Ketu. There was an argument in the process
and policemen started shooting.
“One of the bullets pierced through my windscreen
and hit Timilehin in the eye. The broken glass also injured my wife and Jide.
Immediately after the shooting, the policemen boarded their patrol vehicle and
fled to their station. I carried my son to a nearby hospital where he was
declared dead.”
Olusegun said touts were able to chase the
policemen but in the ensuing pandemonium, his telephone and ATM cards were
stolen.
He said on getting to the police station, he
dropped the corpse of his son at the counter and all the policemen fled.
He said he remained at the station for two hours
as the policemen refused to take his statement.
He said, “I got to the station with my son’s
corpse and I created a scene as I told the policemen that they must kill me
too. They all fled and when the Divisional Police Officer finally attended to
me, the policemen were denying the allegations as they traded blame.
“After two hours at the station, I had to call a
senior official of the Lagos State Government who then spoke with the DPO. My
wife then wrote a statement.”
Olusegun described his son as an intelligent boy
and a fan of Manchester United Football Club.
He said, “Timilehin was the only one that could
operate our television very well even though he was just in primary three at
Royal Scholars Montessori School. He loved watching Eurosports and cartoons and
his best team was Manchester United. The police have stolen our joy.”
The Deputy Police Public Relations Officer,
Damasus Ozoani, told PUNCH Metro that it was possible that Timilehin was
killed by armed robbers as a robbery incident had occurred in the area that
night.
He however said the team of policemen on
duty had been arrested and transferred to X Squad, the police department in
charge of handling crimes committed by policemen.
He said, “Some policemen were trying to arrest a
commercial bus driver when violence erupted. The policemen fired teargas but
the hoodlums proved stubborn so the policemen called for backup. When backup
arrived, shots were fired to disperse the hoodlums and the policemen arrested
the driver.
“About two hours later, a man came to the station
with his dead son, saying policemen killed him. The team of policemen has been
arrested along with the driver. However, we are not ruling out the possibility
that the boy was killed by robbers because there was a robbery in the area that
night.”
A police source identified some of the arrested
policemen as Inspectors Olaleye Sunday, Sule Dauda and Sergeant Razaq Alowonle.
The deceased’s father, however, berated the
police authorities for trying to exonerate their men.
“It was policemen that killed my son, not armed robbers
because I saw a patrol vehicle; except robbers now use patrol vehicles. The
police have stolen our joy and all we want is justice for the death of
Timilehin,” he said.
Source:
Punch
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