The Ogun State Police Command swims into a wave of public criticism over the killing of Mrs. Funmilayo Abudu, a poultry attendant, on the allegation that she was a bank robber
By Gbenro Adesina
It seemed the perfect weekend starter. On Friday 12 December, the Ogun State Police Command announced that its men had killed the female head of a 20-member gang of bandits, which was fleeing after robbing the Shagamu branch of First Bank plc of a sum of N5million.
The Police, as always, made a big show of the success, parading the the corpse of the Mrs. Funmilayo Abudu, who was shot in Abeokuta.
The parade, which took place at the Ogun State Police Command Headquarters, Eleweran, Abeokuta, attracted a huge crowd that watched Abudu’s body lying beside an AK47 rifle and the body of another alleged robber.
According to the Police, the woman jumped into a river, from where she engaged the Police in a gun duel. The public was excited and praised the Police for waking up to their responsibilities. Seized by a fit of chest-thumping, Ogun State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Emmanuel Ayeni, said the killing of the two bank robbers and the arrest of others operating at different spots proved that the Police were ready to make the state uncomfortable for criminals.
But it was the Police that felt uncomfortable. A day after she was paraded, Mrs Abudu’s employers, Demirs Farms, Sagamu, identified her as a member of staff and said she was not a robber. Ayeni, who recently resumed duty at the command, was immediately put on the spot. The Police Commissioner, however insisted that the people killed were robbers. “Those that my men killed were not innocent people. Absolutely, we killed bank robbers. The story is not patch-patch story. It is real and true. I just want to tell you that tomorrow, come to Abeokuta to hear our side of the story,” he said.
Ayeni needs to do a lot of explaining, as the incident has put his claims under serious scrutiny. President, Campaign for Democracy, CD, Dr. Joe Okei-Odumakin, described Ayeni as a liar, saying the spirit of the innocent blood he has shed is crying for justice.
Women under the aegis of Real Woman Foundation (RWF) and Women Arise have continued to protest the killing of Mrs. Abudu. They carried placards, some of which read: “Framing an innocent woman is ungodly; Ogun Police, Tell The Truth.”
President of RWF, Mrs. Nike Adeyemi said: “We have the promise of the Inspector-General of Police to investigate this matter, but we ask that the probe should consist of people from the civil society and not the police alone,” Adeyemi stated.
A statement jointly signed by Odumakin and Pastor Nike Adeyemi, described the incident as bizarre and one which has left serious pain in the heart.
The duo alleged that the Police re-dressed the deceased to portray her as a robber, stressing that she was dressed in an armless blouse and trousers made of Ankara fabric, an unusual outfit for someone going on a robbery operation.
“More intriguing was the allegation that the photograph of Funmilayo’s corpse taken immediately after she was killed did not have armband and a shot in the side; she was only shot in the head. That it was the police that tied the charms and amulets on her to prove she was a robber and shot her in the side to give the impression she was killed in a shoot-out. We are devastated by this dastardly act as we mourn with the Abudus who now carry the double jeopardy of bereavement as well as unjust stigmatisation of their beloved one. A family who could hardly live well on the combined income of the vulcaniser husband and poultry attendant wife now has to live on half of that,” they said.
The activists demanded an autopsy and called on the Police authorities to punish the officers, who allegedly adorned her with charms and amulets. They also demanded the payment of adequate compensation to the Abudu family and want the federal government to discontinue the practice of parading suspects who have not been prosecuted.
“On a final note, it is our considered view that the highest command of the Police Force and the government take seriously the reformation of the police to give it a human face and create an organisation that can serve the people without sacrificing innocent citizens like Funmilayo to prove a needless point.” Mrs. Abudu is survived by three children: Salewa, 10; Rashidat, eight, and Mutiu, five.
Meanwhile, children of Funmilayo have cried out over the murder, saying their mother was not a thief. One of the woman’s children, Tosin Abudu, lamented that her mother was innocent, saying she was never a robber. “My mother was not a thief. She did not steal. Since I was born, I have never seen her steal anything,” said Tosin, who is 18-years old.
“I love my mother, she was a good woman. She always cared for us. She did not steal. Government should release our mother’s body for burial,” she told TheNEWS after the joint news conference by Real Woman Foundation and Women Arise. Another child of the woman, Shalewa, supported her sister’s story. She said, “my mummy was not a thief. Government should release her body to us for burial.”
According to Mrs. Christiana Fatai, a relation of the slain woman, “my sister did not steal. Government should remove the robbery tag they placed on her.” The Managing Director of Demirs Farm where the late Mrs. Abudu worked, Mr. Rasak Asiwaju, said the woman had been working with him for the past two years.
He said she had never stolen an egg. Her honesty led to her promotion as a supervisor until she met her untimely death. Husband of the woman, Waniyu Abudu, in tears, said his wife was innocent and was never a thief. He also called for the release of her body for burial.
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omotosho
23 December 2008 23:04MAY GOD TAKE AWAY THE KILLERS OF THIS INOCENT WOMAN IN A VIOLENT WAY .MAY YOU SUFFERD PAIN THE WAY THE FAMILY IS SUFFERING NOW .THAT IS MY WISH FOR YOU BEFORE THE RUNS OUT..
Dapo Ikantu
24 December 2008 15:02What a calamity! How can we continue with this stone age practice. We need comprehensive training of the Police Force
RealEzeky
25 December 2008 16:24It high time,federal govt handoff from control police,police are bizmen under the chairmanship of DPO and AIG as a patron,average nigeria police don’t arrest criminal except credibility persons,and if such happen it could be directive from zone 2,nigeria can’t get rid of criminals or robbers cos criminals are very closer to police or people from authority rather than innocent citizenry,nigerian citizens need to stand talls so as to fight for one another,for deceased employer to come out and defend her means she is practising christian.YARA ADUA safe our soul,and accolade goes to MUHAMMED(AIG) of zone 2,and you need to finish what you ve started here in Lagos.
CHIDI JACOBS.
25 December 2008 19:11THE NIGERIAN POLICE IS A DISGRACE,THE IG IS A BIG FOOL,HE DOES NOT KNOW HIS JOB.HE IS TOO FLEXIBLE.
DON CHIDI.
GBENGA AYODELE
26 December 2008 10:02IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO SAY THE TRUTH AT ALL TIME BECAUSE GOD ALMIGHTY WILL JUDGE EVERYBODY ACCORDINGLY.
BECAUSE OUR GOD IS A GOD OF VENGEANCE, YHAT IS WHY YOU SEE MOST OF THE OFFSPRING OF THESE MEN IN UNIFORM CONTINUE TO EXPERIENCE ONE PROBLEM OR THE OTHER. SHEDDING OF INNOCENT BLOOD IS A SERIOUS OFFENCE IN THE EYES OF THE LORD. POLICE SHOULD STOP THIS UNHOLY ACT AND MAY THE SPIRIT OF THE SLAINED WOMAN REST IN THE BOSSOM OF THE LORD.
raymond hope
28 December 2008 06:06Im sorry for the innocent woman that died by police bullet. Her spirit will never stop to hunt her killers. But i tell you the nigeria police is nothing to write home about, bunch of illeterates. what do you expect from them. In nigeria, if a man in his family is a criminal,troublesome and wareword he will be sent to join the police, when he enters there what do you expect from him, a masters digree holder as a criminal.
I call them neccessary evel.
Olumuyiwa Isaac
28 December 2008 09:05May God help and deliver us in that country called Nigeria
Olumuyiwa Oarhe Isaac
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Michael Adegboyega, uk
29 December 2008 09:23This case seems to have some resemblance to the man wrongly killed by the police who claimed he is a terrorist - Mr. John Charles Demenez. At first the police here in the uk claimed he jump the ticket barrier.The public and the stations video proved them wrong.There were torrents of lies by the uk police to the extent, when all is clear to the media that a wrong man had been killed, 24 hours after, the police boss is still claiming the dead man was a terrorist.
Why would the police deceive the public about the innocent woman on an errand by her employers? Shame on the Nigerian police for this avoidable mistake.
The blood of that innocent woman that your men are expected to protect will call on you very soon.
It appears the Nigerian police is made up of useless people.This matter must be investigated thorougly, and the police should be humiliated to apologise for its obvious errors.
yaku
30 December 2008 12:22That is the nature of our police. The police never kill any armed robbers as they will only say the armed runs with a bullet wound. It is unbelieveable to even imagine how a peaceful woman would be killed and tagged as an armed robber. The police has failed in their duties to protect the Nigerian masses. What the Govt should do now is to hand over the control of the police include its IGP to the NSCDC to be in charge of the situation. President should not allow the blood of this woman to go like that. Dr Yakubu Lame please ensure the investigation is carried out by the civil societies and the culprit be killed to serve as deterrenr to other police men who used our tax paters money to kill us. OKIRO has derailed from the post as what he has done is just to get rid of RIBADU since he (RIBADU) refused to sent returns and kick backs to them at the FHQ when he was in position. OR IGP & NIGERIANS POLICE. GOD protect the Nigerian masses against the police and OKIRO
oduwa
30 December 2008 21:03shame on this foolish so called nigerian police , only God knows how many people they have kill!
oduwa
30 December 2008 21:03shame on this foolish so called nigerian police , only God knows how many people they have killed!
Ayodeji Otiti, Toronto, Canada.
31 December 2008 03:01May all the Police men and women who had a hand in this gruesome, dastardly act of framing and killing of a poor family’s bread-winner meet the same fate either now and later. May the blood of the innocent slain boil and burn them. May worse misfortune than this be their companions for many years to come. Nigeria is indeed a country in a serious moral crisis. We have become very satanic, unGodly and totally and hopelessly immoral. How do you kill a woman wrongly, and tie charms round her arm to depict her as a dangerous criminal? This of course would not be the first time the police service would be doing this kind of ghastly criminal act. Many innocent Nigerians had lost their lives at check points (legal and illegal) for failure to part with some amount of money, as a bribe, to the police. Once killed the police declared them robbers to cover their tracks. Nigeria as a country has more churches and mosques per capita than anywhere in the World, and yet this heart-reeling things happen. I am very sure that the Ogun State police commissioner is also on this lies and despicable act of his men and women. Shame on him and may the God that created the wrongly murdered and wrongly accused woman pay him back with the justice he deserves. Our leaders are not only heartless and incompetent, but they are also no better than those common criminals they lock up on account of criminal activities. They are worse than the criminals that they despise. I believe that with the cat out of the bag now, the shameless police service will be fighting tooth and nail to keep the story as badly as they had offered it to the public. However, the concerned citizens of Ogun State, and Nigeria at large, should not allow this to be swept under the carpet as the police had done several times. The culpable police service men and women in the poor lady’s murder and conspiracy to frame her should not be spared. They should face the music. However, we, as Nigerians, should take responsibility for this satanic act and despicable misdeeds of our fellow compatriots. They are, like us, Nigerians and are a reflection or symptom of what is wrong in everyone of us. We are good at pointing fingers and our hypocrisy conveniently covers our own very fault, which at times are worse than what we are condemning. How many petty thieves and minor criminals did Tafa Balogun and Sunday Ehindero succeeded in putting behind bars? And what are their own records in terms of honest, faultless public service? Nigerians are their own worst enemies. Mrs. Abudu’s both in life and in death is another sad story of inhumanity of Nigerians to a fellow Nigerian. We need to urgently correct our ways before we get ourselves into the irredeemable fix of automatic self-destruct.
Ayodeji Otiti, Toronto, Canada.
31 December 2008 03:03May all the Police men and women who had a hand in this gruesome, dastardly act of framing and killing of a poor family’s bread-winner meet the same fate either now or later. May the blood of the innocent slain boil and burn them. May worse misfortune than this be their companions for many years to come. Nigeria is indeed a country in a serious moral crisis. We have become very satanic, unGodly and totally and hopelessly immoral. How do you kill a woman wrongly, and tie charms round her arm to depict her as a dangerous criminal? This of course would not be the first time the police service would be doing this kind of ghastly criminal act. Many innocent Nigerians had lost their lives at check points (legal and illegal) for failure to part with some amount of money, as a bribe, to the police. Once killed the police declared them robbers to cover their tracks. Nigeria as a country has more churches and mosques per capita than anywhere in the World, and yet this heart-reeling things happen. I am very sure that the Ogun State police commissioner is also on this lies and despicable act of his men and women. Shame on him and may the God that created the wrongly murdered and wrongly accused woman pay him back with the justice he deserves. Our leaders are not only heartless and incompetent, but they are also no better than those common criminals they lock up on account of criminal activities. They are worse than the criminals that they despise. I believe that with the cat out of the bag now, the shameless police service will be fighting tooth and nail to keep the story as badly as they had offered it to the public. However, the concerned citizens of Ogun State, and Nigeria at large, should not allow this to be swept under the carpet as the police had done several times. The culpable police service men and women in the poor lady’s murder and conspiracy to frame her should not be spared. They should face the music. However, we, as Nigerians, should take responsibility for this satanic act and despicable misdeeds of our fellow compatriots. They are, like us, Nigerians and are a reflection or symptom of what is wrong in everyone of us. We are good at pointing fingers and our hypocrisy conveniently covers our own very fault, which at times are worse than what we are condemning. How many petty thieves and minor criminals did Tafa Balogun and Sunday Ehindero succeeded in putting behind bars? And what are their own records in terms of honest, faultless public service? Nigerians are their own worst enemies. Mrs. Abudu’s both in life and in death is another sad story of inhumanity of Nigerians to a fellow Nigerian. We need to urgently correct our ways before we get ourselves into the irredeemable fix of automatic self-destruct.
retired captain J.JAMIU LAWAL
31 December 2008 19:27infact is terible news to the nation to ear this insident. polise always a lier.and if you had this story.someone would knows that polise is liar and they are not from good fruits of human.they knows the armrobbers and armrobbers knows them quite allright.in this case those teams of polise on patrol the day of incident as to bring to justise if the state goverment want to play right and justise.to me they just want to take thise woman cover up.if they were handle well and bring the team to justise as right way.this will be a lesson to others team of patrol next other time and to the other polise members.if state government can go right on this matter.others will stop in parforming rubise like thise,okay to me,
J.J LAWAL.
Emeka Uzoatuegwu
1 January 2009 18:37This practice of killing innocent people and branding them robbers in order to make it look like the police are performing has been happening for a very long time now.
The problem is that the general public never get to hear of them except if a prominent person is involved or a civil right organisation takes up a particular case. usually, when such incidents occur, the police will promise an inquiry and in most case the reports never get to see light of the day and nobody will take responsibility, hence nobody gets prosecuted and punished for taking innocent lives.
In some cases when these victims are taken alive, they will be so tortured to confess to crimes they did not commit that some will be permanently maimed if they are lucky, others in order to save themselves from further excrutiating pains of torture will confess to things they they did not do and most unlucky ones get executed in the most extra-judical manner in their police cells or within the police premesis with the accusation that they tried to disarm a police officer. The victims mostly are from poor families who lack the means to mount a sustainable lenghty legal battle.
The question is when will the Nigerian police learn to apply intelligence to prevent crime before they happen, and conduct thorough investigations based on evidence and hard facts without the crude method of torture as it is done in other developing countires.
I very much doubt if this is going to happen, because the money that is meant for training of officers to attain a high standard of effiency is being embezzled by the top brass of the force, hence innocent lowly placed members of the public bear the brunt of the police lack of training and facilities to match the challenges of the current times.
Doyin
2 January 2009 22:58Sad. So sad. May her soul rest in perfect peace. ds
cybaspark
3 January 2009 03:02In decent society, the Ogun State Police Comissioner should have been forced to resigned for supporting an oficial fabrication and taken to a criminal and a civil court for prosecution.
It is a shame that Nigeria do not respect human life anymore. Good and kind people of the world should come together and assist the family left behind by Mrs. Abudu.
May your soul rest in peace
igwe
3 January 2009 22:43THIS IS JUST A TIP OF THE ICEBERG COMPARED TO THE ILLS OF THE NIGERIAN POLICE FORCE, WHAT A USELESS FORCE!!!!!!
OLUSOLA THOMPSON
4 January 2009 21:11Police, Police again doing the evil thing that they only good in killing and be smartly covering the truth thinking that God is not looking. They should remember that when they too got home to their wife/s they have just killed some else wife for nothing. Blood of innocent woman would hunt them until their last day. My sympathy goes out to this died woman’s family. Nigeria wake up.
Bukola Akintola
15 January 2009 10:03It is a shame what our ‘dear’ country is turning to. Nigerians are not safe from armed robbers and also not safe because of the police who is trying to save face. God will heal our land..