Police under pressure to arrest killers of LASTMA official 

bakare
Bakare (middle).

The Nigerian Police, Lagos State Command, is now under pressure to fish out the killers of an official of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA), Surajudeen Olatunji Bakare, who was brutally murdered by an irate mob in Apapa on December 15.

Ships & Ports gathered on Thursday that Lagos State government has written to the state Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni, demanding the arrest of the culprits.

The state government, it was further learnt, requested the commissioner of police, “to treat the matter with all the urgency it deserves.”

Bakare, a level 14 officer, was reportedly attacked by an irate mob which removed his two eyes, stabbed him severally after which he was stoned to death.

Competent sources in the Ministry of Justice said government’s letter to the state Commissioner of Police dated December 28, 2016 was signed by the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Adeniji Kazeem.

The state government was said to have expressed concern to the police commissioner over the failure of its officers to effect any arrest 14 days after the dastardly act and despite the fact that the video, showing the faces of the culprits had already gone viral on the internet.

The Attorney General was said to have emphasized the need for the police to promptly fish out the perpetrators of the dastardly act and turn them in to face necessary legal action.

The letter reads in part: “The late Bakare was a LASTMA official who was in Apapa area of the state executing his lawful duties and it was in exercising this duty that he was attacked and murdered by persons that have apparently been visually recorded and same circulated on social media.

“This is a crime that is clearly an affront to civilization and the sustenance of law and order which the administration of His Excellency, Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, has sworn to uphold.

“The Lagos State Government demands that the perpetrators of this dastardly crime be arrested, investigated and the case file promptly sent to this office for Legal Advice.”

He added that his office would be available to provide any assistance required by the police.

 



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