Justice has caught up with two suspected criminals who participated in the brutal lynching of a LASTMA official.
The deceased LASTMA official and the two suspects
Two commercial motorcycle riders suspected to have participated in
the lynching of a zonal commander, Lagos State Traffic Management
Authority, Olatunji Bakare, have been arrested by the police, Punch
reported.
The suspects identified as Abubakar Ibrahim, 25; and 23-year-old
Usman Ahmad were paraded at the state police command headquarters in
Ikeja on Thursday after their arrest.
The LASTMA official was killed by a mob in the Liverpool area of
Apapa had killed the commander on December 15, 2016, in retaliation for
the death of a motor boy, who was allegedly hit by a LASTMA van.
Bakare, who led his men to the area to arrest erring motorists, was
stoned until he gave up the ghost. After a video of the lynching
incident took went viral online, the Lagos State Attorney General and
Commissioner for Justice, Adeniji Kazeem, petitioned the state police
command to fish out the perpetrators.
The Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni, who paraded the two
suspects, said the police were on the trail of others involved in the
killing.
He said, “Having analysed the video very well, two suspects,
who have been identified positively, having matched the recording with
their faces, have been apprehended. We will use them to get to others
that took part in the gory act.
“We will do everything that needs to be done in terms of
subjecting the report to forensic interpretation to ensure that innocent
people are not made to suffer.”
Speaking about the incident, the two suspects denied the accusations saying the were framed by the police.
Ibrahim, who hails from Adamawa State, said, “I was arrested in a
school in Apapa, where I was relaxing because my motorcycle was faulty
that day.
“Some policemen had arrested an okada (motorcycle) rider for an
offence. Other riders tried to collect the motorcycle from the
policemen.
“Initially, I was accused of being among those who stoned the
policemen. Later, they said I was involved in the killing of the LASTMA
officer. But I didn’t go to where the officer was killed that day. I
have paid N20,000 to secure my bail and my motorcycle is with the
police.”
The other suspect, Ahmad, an indigene of Borno State, said he had
taken a man injured in an accident on Liverpool Bridge to a hospital in
the Apapa area when he was arrested.
“The police picked me at the hospital with my motorcycle and
said I was among those who stoned the LASTMA officer. They collected the
N9,500 on me and seized my motorcycle,” he added.
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