Drunken sergeant dismissed for killing undergraduate

Joseph

The operative of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), Ikeja, Lagos State Police Command, who shot and killed an undergraduate of a polytechnic in Edo State, Eldanojie Joseph, along LASU-Igando Road, has been dismissed.

The shooter, Sergeant Idoh Collins, was dismissed yesterday after an orderly room trial and charged to court for murder.

Investigators claimed that Collins was drunk on the fateful day he opened fire; rather than target an alleged fleeing suspected fraudster, his bullet killed Joseph.

Joseph, 20, a business administration student was said to have been shot by four policemen who were allegedly on illegal duty.

The four SARS operatives were pursuing a suspected Internet fraudster, identified as Badoo, who parked his car and fled upon sighting the officers.

Collins, opened fire on Badoo, but the bullet went astray and killed Joseph. The deceased was said to have stepped out of their apartment with his cousin, to buy drink when he was killed.

After killing Joseph, they bundled his corpse into the fleeing suspect’s car boot and drove to police command. There they labeled Joseph a cultist and an armed robber.

Many policemen fell for the ruse, including the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Fatai Owoseni.

It took the publication of a national daily and narration of eye witnesses for police top hierarchy to suspect something was wrong.

A police source said: “The four policemen were arrested last week on the order of the CP and transferred to the State Criminal Investigations Department (SCID), Panti, Yaba. The gun was planted on the deceased. It was planted to cover their deed. The deceased was shot in error.”

The policemen would have got away with the ruse, but for the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Ibrahim Idris.

After Idris read the story in the daily, he felt something was fishy and instructed Owoseni to investigate the matter further. Owoseni ordered the Officer in Charge of SARS, to produce the four policemen for debriefing.

When the policemen heard that Owoseni wanted to speak with them, they bolted.

The police source said: “When the policemen brought the corpse to the command, they said the deceased was an armed robber. When CP directed that the policemen should be produced, they all ran away. The policemen were attached to SARS Badagry. They were led by Inspector Orobiyi. The sergeant that fired was found to be drunk. They were not supposed to leave their post at Badagry, to Iyana-Oba-Igando area. They were on illegal duty. They ran away when CP said they should bring them for interview. When they ran away, CP said it means they were hiding something.”

The police source said that the four policemen were hunted for a week and eventually arrested last week Sunday.

“When Collins was arrested, he denied being the shooter. There were plans to take their rifles to lab, to check when last the rifles were fired and at what situation. But the four of them have confessed. They confessed during the orderly room trial. Collins finally admitted being the shooter.”

The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Dolapo Badmus, confirming the dismissal of Collins, said: “The sergeant has been charged to court based on the directive of the IGP. The IGP said that extra-judicial killings would no longer be accepted in the Nigeria Police Force.”