Family, friends remember youth killed by DPO

Exactly a year today, 27-year-old Ademola Abe strolled to a newsstand few metres to his house at Yaya Abatan, Lagos to read newspapers, but never came back home alive.

The young man was allegedly shot dead by the then Divisional Police Officer of Pen Cinema, Lagos, Segun Fabunmi, on January 9, 2012 during the protest against fuel subsidy removal.

On Tuesday when our correspondent visited Yaya Abatan, the junction where Ademola was shot dead, a bust erected in his memory at the spot reminds passersby of a life lost prematurely.

“Is it a year already? It does not feel like it at all. We all remember the incident here like it happened yesterday,” a resident, Johnson Ojogun,” told PUNCH Metro.

The residents will not forget in a hurry the incident, which threw the area into turmoil.

Our correspondent spoke to Ademola’s father, Mr. Ishola Abe, on the phone.

The Ilesa-based businessman said the killing of his fourth child was something he would never forget.

Ishola explained, “We remember him everyday, it’s been a year since the incident happened. Ademola could have become a great man.

“I was always thinking that he could have grown to become a man that would do this family proud and make us very happy.

“Ademola’s mother is crying now, she is here with me. You can imagine how hard it has been for us to think that he was killed just like that by a police officer.”

Ademola’s father said he gets updates on the civil case being pursued by the Office of the Public Defender at the High Court, Ikeja.

Director of the OPD, Mrs. Omotola Rotimi, said the office handled the civil aspect by suing the police and Fabunmi for N600m for the violation of the fundamental rights of the victim and his family.

She said, “Right now, the lawyers of the Federal Government and the DPO (Fabunmi) filed a preliminary objection, which will be heard on January 26.

“As far as our own duty is concerned, we are still on course. The police said they would conduct an orderly room trial but nobody has heard about the report. I think this is where you the media can help.”

One year after the incident, the police have yet to arraign Fabunmi, a further reinforcement of earlier suspicion that the case could be swept under the carpet.

Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association, Ikeja branch, Mr. Monday Ubani, said it would be “absurd” if indeed Fabunmi had not been arraigned.

Ubani said, “The incident brings the issue of confidence in the police force to the fore. A young man has been cut down in his prime. If the DPO suspected to be responsible has not been charged, police authorities are supposed to call a press conference explaining whether he has been found culpable or otherwise.

“It is a year since the incident, it is expected that investigation would have been concluded. Giving account on the issue to the public is the only way the police can regain the confidence of the people.”

When our correspondent spoke to the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Ngozi Braide, on Tuesday, she said she needed more time to find out about where the case currently stands.

Meanwhile, youths of Yaya Abatan will on Wednesday (today) stage a remembrance rally in honour of Ademola.

Their leader, Olajide Boladale, said they feared the case had been forgotten by the police authorities.

He said, “The state government needs to redeem the promise it made when Ademola was killed that it would ensure justice is done.

“Wednesday rally is to remind the authorities that Ademola must not die in vain because the impression we are getting is that the DPO has escaped justice.”

Fabunmi allegedly shot Ademola where youths had gathered to read newspapers and play football during the anti-fuel subsidy removal protest that crippled vehicular traffic and business activities in the state.

A coroner’s inquest into the death was instituted by the NBA and Access to Justice.