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A police officer, Saka Afolabi, who allegedly shot one Ismail Akapo in 2019, has not appeared in court.
The accused was detained Lagos state police warrant at the time of the alleged offense. He was later transferred to the Zamfara Police Command following the incident, lawyer Bisi Adepoju stated in a letter to the Inspector General of Police on April 4.
“Murder”
According to the letter, a copy of which was sent to PREMIUM TIMES, Mr. Akapo was shot dead by a “drunk policeman” in Badagrin in 2019.
“I was informed that on July 12, 2019, a drunken policeman, identified as Afolabi Saka, shot and killed a young man named Ismail Akapo in Badagry, Lagos State,” the letter reads.
“Many witnesses confirmed that they saw the rogue officer leaving the Charly-Menz hotel in Aradagun, reeking of alcohol, shortly before the shooting took place.
“I was informed that the deceased was going to the main market of the town, that he saw a large number of people in a heated argument with some policemen over a piece of land.
“The late Ismail Akapo was at a safe distance with some friends to see what was happening. Suddenly, shots were fired and one of the bullets hit him in the thigh. He fell to the ground.
“The shooting was from a police team that had been in their town for a month before this particular shooting incident. He was deployed from the Nigeria Police, Zone 2 Command, Obalende, Lagos.
The lawyer said the officer involved in the shooting was arrested and taken to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), Yaba, but was later “released before obtaining legal advice from the Lagos State Directorate of Public Prosecutions and later transferred to the Zamfara Police Command”.
Mr. Adepoju said all efforts to get Mr. Afolabi to appear in court have so far been unsuccessful despite several letters written to the police authorities.
He said it is “surprising” that the officer was transferred without suffering any consequences. He also said that there is no evidence that an orderly trial was held.
“Ismail Akapo’s case exposes a corrupt police organization whose job it is to protect and enforce the law of the land, as it broke every known law on the statute book to protect its own.
“They probably think they are more human than the rest. Section 17, Section 3 of the Lagos State Administration of Criminal Justice (Repeal and Restructuring) Act, 2015 provides: “When a person is arrested and appears before the police in charge of the station, the offense is of a capital nature, the person arrested shall be kept in custody”. He will bring it before the court that has jurisdiction over the crime within a reasonable period of time.”
The trial
The lawyer said the state government had issued its legal advice on August 20, 2020 ordering the officer to be prosecuted in the matter. However, it was difficult to bring the suspect to court because he was not in custody.
“On April 15, 2021, the case finally came up for the first time before Justice Adesanya of the 11th Court, Lagos State High Court, Tafa Balewa Square, Onikan, Lagos, but the accused was not in custody,” the letter said.
“Since then, the case has come up five times in the whole of 2022, and each time the complainant, the Lagos State Government, has failed to bring the killer police to justice.
“On November 8, 2022, the judge got fed up with the complainant and threatened to drop the case for lack of diligent prosecution, if not for the seriousness of the crime.”
The lawyer said he had spoken to the Lagos police spokesman, Benjamin Hundeyin, but he was “unable to provide assistance”.
“The request was written to the IGP, so it is in the domain of the Force Headquarters, so I will not be able to talk about the case being handled by my superiors,” Mr Hundeyin replied when contacted by this newspaper. account on Saturday.
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He said, “I can’t talk about it yet until the IG makes a decision on the matter.”
When contacted, the spokesperson of the Nigeria Police, Muyiwa Adejobi, said: “I am not aware of the letter, we will know when we resume.”
The letter sent to this reporter was requested on WhatsApp.
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