Suspects Who Allegedly Lynched a LASTMA Officer to Death in Lagos Arrested by Police (Photo)

7 years ago

Suspects Who Allegedly Lynched a LASTMA Officer to Death in Lagos Arrested by Police (Photo)

Two commercial motorcycle riders suspected to have participated in the lynching of a zonal commander, Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, Olatunji Bakare, have been arrested by the police, Punch reported.

The suspects identified as Abubakar Ibrahim, 25; and 23-year-old Usman Ahmad were paraded at the state police command headquarters in Ikeja on Thursday after their arrest.

The LASTMA official was killed by a mob in the Liverpool area of Apapa had killed the commander on December 15, 2016, in retaliation for the death of a motor boy, who was allegedly hit by a LASTMA van.

Bakare, who led his men to the area to arrest erring motorists, was stoned until he gave up the ghost. After a video of the lynching incident took went viral online, the Lagos State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Adeniji Kazeem, petitioned the state police command to fish out the perpetrators.

The Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni, who paraded the two suspects, said the police were on the trail of others involved in the killing.

He said, “Having analysed the video very well, two suspects, who have been identified positively, having matched the recording with their faces, have been apprehended. We will use them to get to others that took part in the gory act.

“We will do everything that needs to be done in terms of subjecting the report to forensic interpretation to ensure that innocent people are not made to suffer.”

Speaking about the incident, the two suspects denied the accusations saying the were framed by the police.

Ibrahim, who hails from Adamawa State, said, “I was arrested in a school in Apapa, where I was relaxing because my motorcycle was faulty that day.

“Some policemen had arrested an okada (motorcycle) rider for an offence. Other riders tried to collect the motorcycle from the policemen.

“Initially, I was accused of being among those who stoned the policemen. Later, they said I was involved in the killing of the LASTMA officer. But I didn’t go to where the officer was killed that day. I have paid N20,000 to secure my bail and my motorcycle is with the police.”

The other suspect, Ahmad, an indigene of Borno State, said he had taken a man injured in an accident on Liverpool Bridge to a hospital in the Apapa area when he was arrested.

“The police picked me at the hospital with my motorcycle and said I was among those who stoned the LASTMA officer. They collected the N9,500 on me and seized my motorcycle,” he added.