Tragedy: How mother, baby were killed by police bullets

Weekly Trust gathered that Azeez’s daughter, 22-year-old Titilayo Olutunde, was allegedly shot and killed together with her eight-month-old baby through stray bullets fired by some policemen in Ilorin. This reporter was informed that the late Titilayo and her baby were among six passengers that boarded a taxi with registration number XB 384PTG when suddenly, some policemen stopped the taxi for a search operation along New Yidi Road around 6.30p.m. of that day.

An eyewitness told Weekly Trust that the policemen allegedly fired several shots at the vehicle when the taxi driver failed to stop for a stop-and-search operation. Titilayo, her baby and the driver were reportedly hit by the bullets. “The mother, her baby and the driver were hit by the bullets. The woman died instantly while the baby later died at the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH).

As a result of the shock of the attack, the driver swerved across the road and the car eventually hit a bridge wall. I went with my car to report at the police station, but the policemen there refused to follow me immediately until one of them was convinced enough to finally follow me to the scene of the accident to rescue the victims.

“To my surprise, instead of them to stop at the accident scene, they sped off with their vehicle. So I went to lodge a complaint at ‘A’ Division Police Station before action was eventually taken. The driver whose name is Isiaka Rasaki was thereafter rushed to an undisclosed hospital for treatment,” the eyewitness narrated to our reporter.

The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) of Kwara State Police Command, Mr Dabo Ezekiel (ASP), who confirmed the incident, said all the four officers on patrol on the day of the incident have been arrested and would be dealt with accordingly if found guilty. But in less than 24 hours, the Kwara State Police Command dismissed three of the men who were allegedly involved in the killing and said they would be arraigned in court the following day (Wednesday).

Dabo disclosed that the fourth policeman who drove the other affected three during their patrol operation was spared because he was found not to be culpable. He advised that policemen on patrol should always be careful with their arms and ensure that they do not use them in an unauthorised and illegal way.

He said the arms are meant for the protection of innocent citizens and not for killing or maiming them. Dabo also urged drivers to always stop at checkpoints when asked to do so by the police, adding that in case they were asked to bribe, they should insist on not giving but be taken to the police station. Weekly Trust sought the reactions of some residents of Ilorin over the incident. Most of them strongly condemned the act and assessed it as the “perpetual atrocities of erring police officers on roadblocks.”

One Akomu urged the police force to brace up to the challenges of ensuring adequate security of the lives and property of citizens rather than being additional threats.

The chairman of the Kwara State chapter of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Bashir Aliyu, described the incident as unfortunate and expressed fear that things may get worse if the appropriate quarters do not take immediate action on such erring police officers.

Aliyu, who called for the retraining of police officers so that they can be acquainted with the dos and don’ts of the police force, commended the quick action of the police command in dismissing the erring officers and their subsequent remand in prison custody. He also charged all union members to adhere to the rules of the road.

Also commenting, the Chief Imam of Jooro Juma’at Mosque, Alhaji Muhammad Jamiu Ayuba Al-Fulani, said though only Allah can give perfect judgement, “sharia insists that anyone who kills deliberately must also be killed”.

Other Kwara State indigenes, however, said that such act is becoming the habit of police officers who often kill innocent people for no just cause and insisted that justice must prevail. The death of Titilayo and her daughter created serious concerns in Ilorin’s legal circle. An Ilorin Chief Magistrate Court remanded the three police officers who allegedly killed them at the Federal Prisons yard in Oke-Kura, Ilorin, on Wednesday.

The suspects are Olatunji Tajudeen (first accused); Adams Akeem (second accused) and Sunday Balogun (third accused).

The Kwara State Police Command had arraigned the suspects in court for criminal conspiracy and culpable homicide.

Counsels to the accused persons had prayed the court to grant their clients bail, arguing that they were still presumed innocent until proven guilty.

Contending the court’s position, Chief Magistrate Sefiat Abdulkadir refused the prayers, saying that the court was not unmindful of the constitutional provision of the innocence of the accused persons except proven otherwise. She said that the offences over which the suspects were being remanded were, “One of the highest magnitude in which a bail is ordinarily not granted except on exceptional cases”.

Earlier, the Prosecution Officer, Moshood Adabayo, urged the court to discountenance any attempt at granting all the accused persons bail, stressing that, “Offences that they have been accused of are capital in nature under Section 221 of the penal code”. The prosecution added that, “They might jump bail if granted, thus jeopardising our investigations. Granting them bail will also mar diligent prosecution of the case”.

On the contrary, the counsel to the first accused person, Ronke Adeyemi, argued that the capital nature of the offences notwithstanding, “the offences levelled against them are mere allegations. They are deemed innocent until proven otherwise. We urge the court to discountenance the submission of the prosecution as regards their jumping of bail. With that submission, the prosecution has jumped into conclusion.”

The counsels to the second and third accused persons, T. A. Giwa and S. I. Ashaolu, concurred with their colleague, contending that the right to bail is guaranteed in the Nigerian constitution. Ashaolu specifically described the incident as “very pathetic,” noting, however, that the prosecution’s submissions were in the realm of “mere speculations.”

Meanwhile, during a visit to the family house of the deceased, Weekly Trust observed that sympathisers and members of the family were wearing mournful faces. Azeez Olutunde, Titilayo’s father, said that he has accepted the will of God, but another family member, however, said that they have contacted their lawyer, saying the death of their daughter is a big blow to the entire family.

“She was a former student of Ilorin Grammar School (IGS), but dropped out after being impregnated shortly before the Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination in 2008. The product of the pregnancy was the late Anuoluwa, the eight-month-old baby who died along with her mother. In fact, she was to begin her tailoring education this week,” the family member told Weekly Trust.

It would be recalled that Titilayo’s case is one out of the numerous cases in recent time when security officers who are ordinarily to secure and protect the lives of harmless citizens become dangerous.

In the meantime, Kwara State indigenes and indeed Nigerians await the aftermath of the case, as it is feared that the case may finally be put to rest in favour of the alleged killers.