The President, Omega Fire Ministries Worldwide, Apostle Johnson Suleman, has sought the intervention of the Inspector-General of Police, Usman Baba, over the brutal attack on the hiss convoy, a situation that led to the death of three policemen, two drivers and two others.
Sunday PUNCH gathered that during the attack Friday, youths and members of a vigilance group in the state arrested one of the suspects alive and handed him over to the Divisional Police Officer in Auchi, CSP Ayodele Suleiman, who allegedly shot the suspect dead.
Earlier, the cleric, in his reaction to the 42-second video clip showing the corpse of the suspect in a vehicle, slammed the police, as he alleged that it was an attempt to cover up traces that could lead to those behind the attack.
He tweeted, “Lies…there weren’t kidnappers… He was caught and handed over and the police killed him immediately. Why? Why killing him on the spot? Who is trying to cover up traces?”
The President, Omega Fire Ministries Worldwide, Apostle Johnson Suleman, has sought the intervention of the Inspector-General of Police, Usman Baba, over the brutal attack on the hiss convoy, a situation that led to the death of three policemen, two drivers and two others.
Sunday PUNCH gathered that during the attack Friday, youths and members of a vigilance group in the state arrested one of the suspects alive and handed him over to the Divisional Police Officer in Auchi, CSP Ayodele Suleiman, who allegedly shot the suspect dead.
Earlier, the cleric, in his reaction to the 42-second video clip showing the corpse of the suspect in a vehicle, slammed the police, as he alleged that it was an attempt to cover up traces that could lead to those behind the attack.
He tweeted, “Lies…there weren’t kidnappers… He was caught and handed over and the police killed him immediately. Why? Why killing him on the spot? Who is trying to cover up traces?”
“When Abba Kyari arrested Evans, was Evans eliminated? He wasn’t. So, how will you get a suspect red-handed and shoot him dead in broad daylight? For what purpose? A high-profile personality was attacked, eight people were killed, a suspect was arrested alive and he killed the suspect. It is an intentional operational error.
“The Commissioner of Police, Edo State, should take over the case and get the DPO arrested immediately so that he can explain why he shot the suspect dead. The phone of the suspect should be taken over from the DPO before it is destroyed.”
Meanwhile, the state Deputy Police Public Relations Officer, Jennifer Iwegbu, in a statement on Saturday, said the Commissioner of Police, AIG Abutu Yaro, ordered the removal of the DPO as part of the measures to unravel the circumstances that led to the death of one of the surviving members of the gang that attacked the cleric’s convoy on Friday.
The statement read in part, “The outgoing CP, now AIG Abutu Yaro, has ordered the withdrawal of CSP Ayodele Suleiman, DPO Auchi, for debriefing at the state headquarters with immediate effect. We urged members of the public to remain calm and patient, assuring that no stone would be left unturned to unearth the circumstances surrounding the incident.”
Also speaking, Suleman’s lawyer, Samuel Amune, while also demanding a thorough investigation into the case, said, “One of the boys (suspects) was caught yesterday by vigilantes and he was handed over alive to the Auchi Police Division. But ironically, we don’t know what happened and the next thing we heard was that the police have shot him dead. I don’t know what the police will cook up later to be responsible for shooting him as the police station was not attacked by the youths.”
Police react
The Force Public Relations Officer, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, declined to comment on the matter, noting that it was under the Edo State Command of the Nigeria Police Force.
“Kindly contact the Edo State Command PRO to comment on the issue; it’s under his jurisdiction, and I can’t speak on it,” he said.
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