Two arrested for killing policeman

The X-squad unit of the Lagos State
Police Command has arrested two men,
Semiu Alaka and Sulaiman Olomi in
connection with the murder of a police
inspector, attached to the MOPOL 22 unit
of the command. Both men also faced charges of armed robbery and illegal possession of firearms.
Police sources told PUNCH Metro that
Alaka and Olomi, were part of a group of
hoodlums allegedly being sponsored by a traditional ruler in Lagos. The group were said to have attacked some policemen from MOPOL 22 in May
2013. The policemen were sent to
maintain peace between warring parties
at Mowola community after violent
clashes had broken out over a land
dispute. Angered by the presence of the policemen, the suspected hoodlums numbering 32 were said to have ambushed the policemen.
Two AK-47 rifles, belonging to the
policemen, were also allegedly stolen
during the attack. A police inspector was allegedly killed in the process, while others were injured.
The source said, “One of the injured
policemen had his eye gouged out by the
hoodlums with a matchete. The wounded
policemen are still in the hospital
recuperating from their wounds.”
Alaka in his defence, denied participating
in the attack on the policemen.
Alaka, who claimed he was a member of
the National Union of Road Transport
Workers, said, “I was busy at my job
when I was contacted to provide security
for a piece of land. “The next day, we went there, but some Odua Peoples Congress members also came to Mowola community. Although I
was there when the OPC attacked the
police; I didn’t take part in the violence. “I went back home shortly after. A friend,Agali, brought a rifle to my house later that day and asked me to hide it. I saw that they were police rifles and refused. I told him to take it to Olomi who dug a hole and hid the gun. Although Agali had
brought two police rifles, it was one he
gave us for safekeeping.”Lamenting his plight, Olomi told PUNCH
Metro that he was lured into taking the
security job because he was unemployed. He said, “I am in this mess today because of unemployment. I went to Alaka to help me with a job so I could fend for my family. It was Alaka who got
me the job I had before incident with the
police took place. It was also Alaka who told me that there was another security job. When I got there, I was shocked to see over 30 OPC members there. “I didn’t take part in the attack; I was not there. It was after the whole thing that Agali called me to keep a gun for him. “The gun was wrapped, so I buried it. I didn’t even know it was a police gun until I was arrested,” Olomi said. The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Ngozi Braide, said, “Both men were arrested with the servie pistol of the slain policeman. Investigation is on
to know how they got the gun.”

The victim