Fayose, community allege police covering for killer customs officer

Some aggrieved membets of Ayeitoro community in Ekiti state on Wednesday protested to government house over alleged cover up of an accident that claimed the lives of two members of the community and injuring a few others.  The incident, which has created tension in the area, has also pitched the Governor, Ayodele Fayose, against the […]

Some aggrieved membets of Ayeitoro community in Ekiti state on Wednesday protested to government house over alleged cover up of an accident that claimed the lives of two members of the community and injuring a few others.

 The incident, which has created tension in the area, has also pitched the Governor, Ayodele Fayose, against the Commissioner of Police, Abdullahi Chafe.

It was alleged that the police boss is shielding the driver of the vehicle, a customs officer, from prosecution.

It was learnt that the yet-to-be-identified customs officer rammed his car into a shop in Ayetoro Ekiti, killing two people and injuring others.

The community gave the names of the dead victims as Emmanuel Owaremi and Mrs. Titilayo Omotoso.

Another victim, Bukola Aboko, lost her five-month-old pregnancy in the accident and also sustained bodily injury.

It was learnt that the police after rescuing the man and another female occupant of the car from the scene of the accident, released them without charging them to court.

This made the aggrieved residents to storm the police station to demand the re-arrest and prosecution of the killer ‘drunken’ driver.

Some of the family members of the victims were subsequently arrested and charged to court for breaching public peace and for allegedly attacking the police station.

According to a spokesperson for the two families, Adeola Abiodun, the police withheld the remains of the victims and forced the families to withdraw their interest in pursuing the case in court before they could secure their release for burial.

He said, "We were made to write the letter under duress and we had no choice because we were constantly harassed by the police."

The governor expressed sadness over the incident saying the allegation against the police was "weighty."

Addressing the protesters, the govetnor lamented that the CP could not give a satisfactory answer when he was confronted with the facts of the case.

Fayose added, "I am saddened by this development. Those who are supposed to be protecting us shouldn’t be oppressing us. When people face this kind of trauma, this kind of sad experience, the killing of their breadwinner, husbands and for any reason, a right thinking person should not cover it up. We must stand up against this. These people must get justice.

"A man killed two of their family members, rather than charging the suspect who occupied the car to court, the police charged the family members of the deceased to court. I want to assure Ekiti people that we will get to the root of this matter.

"For anyone trying to cover this up, that would only be for a very short time. You can see the young lady, who was also hit by the car. She was pregnant and the foetus has to be evacuated to save her life. So, for the police to release the suspect who owns the car is unacceptable.

"I have summoned the Commissioner of Police but I am not satisfied with what he said. There is a cover up everywhere. It is becoming a recurrent decimal. The police must wash their hands clean of this mess."

"How can they ask those who lost their son and relative to write an affidavit indicating that they are not pursuing the case any longer. This was done to cover up the crime.

"It is also funny that the police Commissioner has withdrawn his men from the town. How can you say because the townspeople reacted to what you did, you now withdraw all your men and render the town insecure."