The police have arraigned a police inspector, Abdullahi Ibrahim, for killing a bus conductor, Ibrahim Fagbohun, during a mob action against his team at the Agege area of Lagos State.
He was arraigned before a Yaba Chief Magistrate’s Court on one count of manslaughter.
PUNCH Metro learnt that the inspector and his team of other four officers were attached to the Elere Police Division.
They were on a patrol on the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway when they were stopped by the chairman of a transport union in the area.
The chairman, Ramoni Okanlawon, was said to have flagged down the patrol vehicle and complained that one Ajisafe, a commercial bus driver, had stolen his tyre.
The policemen, who got down from their vehicle, were said to have challenged Ajisafe, who made a counter allegation that Okanlawon wanted to rob him and his passengers.
The police team was said to have arrested the union chairman at this point and was whisking him to the station when some area boys blocked the road and confronted the officers.
The police inspector reportedly released a shot from his AK-47 rifle which killed Fagbohun, who was in the crowd.
After spending one year and seven months in incarceration, the inspector was arraigned.
A legal advice from the Directorate of Public Prosecutions ordered that he be charged for manslaughter as nothing qualified the case for murder.
The advice, signed by the Director of the DPP, Ms Ebola Eboda, said, “In order to scare the mob, Inspector Ibrahim fired his gun into the air. The bullets hit and killed the deceased.
“From the above, it is evident that the intent to kill or cause grievous bodily harm is not present in the instant case. While the two other ingredients of murder are present, the third being intention, is absent.”
He was subsequently arraigned on one count of manslaughter.
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