A triggered-happy Nigerian policeman on Sunday shot dead a legal practitioner, Mrs Omobolanle Raheem, while she was returning home from a Christmas service at Ajah Under-bridge.
Ajah is a popular area in Lagos, along the Lekki-Epe Expressway.
The police officer who shot the lawyer on Sunday, Christmas Day, is reportedly attached to Ajiwe Police Station.
It was learnt that after killing Omobolanle Raheem, the trigger-happy policeman fled the scene with his colleagues before another set of policemen later came and took her remains to a mortuary in the Yaba area of the state and vanished.
A lawyer, Yvonne, who is a member of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Lagos Branch, and a close associate of the deceased, confirmed the gruesome killing.
Yvonne said that Raheem’s family called to inform her of the unfortunate incident, adding that they wanted a lawyer to stand in for them before the police would change the narrative.
Yvonne said, “They (the family of the deceased) have taken the matter to Ajiwe Police Station. The police officer is from Ajiwe station. Her husband was the one driving, while Barr. Omobolanle was seated in the front with her husband.
“The officer asked them to park and they needed the vehicle in front to move so they can park well, and immediately the police officer shot at a close range right into her chest. On seeing what happened, the remaining police officers on duty there absconded.
“After a while, some policemen came and moved her body to the mortuary in Yaba, without obtaining any consent from her family members. Currently, her family has located where they moved her body to.
When contacted, Vice Chairman of the NBA Lagos Branch, Abiye Tam-George, described the incident as shocking.
Abiye said there was no justification for the gruesome killing of her colleague, adding that the leadership of NBA, Lagos Branch would visit the police station to hear the account of the police divisional officer of Ajiwe Police Station. She said they would also hear from the husband of the deceased.
“This is a willful murder. It is unprofessional to even raise a gun at somebody let alone kill the person. Like said, I will be at the police station with members of the NBA to see the DPO. We received the news of our colleague’s death with deep pain,” she said.
