The Lagos State Police Command has commenced
investigations into the murder of a 30-year-old car dealer, Uririnke
Onojorhoevwo, who was allegedly killed by officials of the Nigerian Customs
Service in Iyana Ipaja area of the state.
According to the police, the Delta State
indigene was shot to death on June 16, 2013, after being pursued by customs men
attached to the Federal Operation Unit.
Some policemen attached to Gowon Police
Division, who witnessed the incident, said after the killing, the customs men
fled.
A policeman, who craved anonymity, said, “On
June 16, around 5am, we saw customs men in a Toyota Hilux van with registration
number, CS307A01, chasing a white unregistered Audi Station wagon. The customs
men shot the tyre of the vehicle and also shot its driver.
“The driver, who was bleeding profusely, came
out of the vehicle and attempted to run. One of the customs men alighted from
the Hilux, moved close to the car dealer, and shot him again. They did not
touch the corpse but entered into their vehicle and fled immediately.”
The police source told PUNCH Metro that policemen later recovered the
corpse and took it to the station.
When asked if the deceased was a smuggler, the
policeman said there was no evidence to prove that he was.
He said, “After the killing, we began
preliminary investigation. We thought he was a smuggler but we decided to
search the vehicle. We discovered that all the relevant documents were intact
including the customs duty.
“We also deduced that the deceased was driving
from Idi-Iroko border and was heading towards Lagos.”
Our correspondent learnt that the matter had
been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department, Yaba, for
further investigation.
A source at the Homicide Department at the
SCID, told our correspondent that all attempts to get information from the NCS
proved abortive as it did not respond to a letter written to it.
The source said, “We wrote a letter to customs
two weeks ago. We even made telephone calls to their administration department,
but they have not been forthcoming.”
The elder brother of the deceased, Bakapo
Onojorhoevwo, told PUNCH Metro that the deceased sold vehicles for a
living.
He said the deceased was based in Port
Harcourt, Rivers State and was probably heading towards there when he was
killed.
He said he was pained that his brother was not
married and had no children. He said the family would like to know what
transpired.
He said, “Around 7.30am on that very day, I
called my brother’s telephone but a policeman picked it up and told me that my
brother was involved in an accident and I should come to Mainland Medical
Centre, Yaba. I went there with my younger sister and we were told that my
brother had been killed by customs men.
“His corpse is still there and we are waiting
for autopsy. My brother has been dealing in cars for the past four years. We do
not know what actually happened so we want the customs to explain to us.”
When contacted on the telephone, Public
Relations Officer, Federal Operations Unit, Zone A of the NCS, Mr. Uche
Ejesieme, said investigations were ongoing.
A text message he sent to our correspondent
read, “We are on top of the situation. Necessary and appropriate steps will be
taken in due course.”
R.I.P.
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