By David Olalekan.
Four police officers who killed two unarmed suspected phone thieves in broad daylight in the Igando area of Lagos on Monday, have been arrested by the Lagos State Police Command.
The spokesperson of the command, Bala Elkana, who identified the rogue cops as Fabiyi Omomayara, Sergeant Olaniyi Solomon, Sergeant Solomon Sunday and Corporal Aliyu Mukaila, noted that the officers would face murder charges.
A video capturing the incident which has circulated on social media, generated intense criticism as Nigerians berated the officers for resorting to extra-judicial killings.
Is extrajudicial killing now justified in Nigeria?
Why kill unarmed suspected robbers? @PoliceNG @ProfOsinbajo @MBuhari #EndSARS pic.twitter.com/ssLSQia538— EiE Nigeria (@EiENigeria) August 20, 2019
Two of the suspects could be seen in the video handcuffed to each other in a yellow mini bus as an officer approached the scene with a third suspect.
The man recording the video could be heard yelling at the suspects, saying, “You go collect, you go collect” after which a gunshot followed.
The third suspect was shown in the minibus reeling in pain.
One of the officers kept threatening to kill the suspects while ordering them out of the bus, while another officer in the vehicle could be seen pushing one of the slain suspects to the policemen who had quickly taken firing squad positions.
“Leave am make I kill am,” one of the policemen ordered.
“Kunle, commot there make dem kill the idiot,” another officer added, as two gunshots followed.
“God punish you! We no dey waste time,” one of the killer cops said.
Narrating the activities of the robbers, the fellow who recorded the brutal killing, said: “They post on Jiji that they buy phones. Then they will call you and price your phone at high price.
“After calling you, they will use gun to collect your phone. This happened at Igando.
“So, they collected my friend’s phone. My friend then changed his number on Jiji and posted another phone for sale.
“They called him again and he decided to go there with anti-robbery operatives to arrest them so that he could get his phone back.
“Anti-robbery got there, caught them and shot them.”
The police spokesman, however condemned the killings, stating that the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, CP Zubairu Muazu, had ordered a thorough investigation into the incident.
He added that the officers would be dismissed from the Force and handed over to the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department, Yaba, for prosecution if found culpable.