Policeman gets bail after killing bus passenger

 

A policeman attached to the Alakara Police Division, Adewunmi Adeleye, has been granted bail by a Lagos State magistrates’ court after he allegedly killed a 23-year-old bus passenger, Toheeb Lawal.

The magistrate, Mrs. O.O.A. Fowowe-Erusiafe, admitted him to bail in the sum of N200,000 with two sureties in like sum.

PUNCH Metro learnt that Adeleye was among a team of policemen who had set up an illegal checkpoint in front of the Alakara Police Station and were extorting money from commercial buses plying the road.

Our correspondent learnt that the conductor of the bus where the victim was, however, declined to pay.

As the bus driver drove off, the 34-year-old suspect allegedly opened fire on the vehicle, which hit and killed the victim.

As everyone took to their heels, the police were reported to have cleaned the blood from the bus and took the corpse away.

His family, however, went to the station and recovered the corpse for burial after a promise from the Divisional Police Officer that justice would be done.

The suspect, who had been kept in custody since July 27, 2014, when the incident happened, was arraigned before an Ebute Meta Magistrate’s Court on one count of manslaughter.

The police, in the charge sheet, however, said the slain man was the bus conductor.

The charge read, “That you, Adewunmi Adeleye, on July 27, 2014, at about 9pm, at Alakara Police Station, Mushin, Lagos, in the Lagos Magisterial District, did cause the death of one Toheeb Lawal, aged 23 years, by shooting at a moving commercial vehicle with number plate, AKD 603 XH, where he was the conductor.”

The police prosecutor, Corporal Kokoye Olusegun, said the offence was punishable under Section 227 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, Nigeria, 2011.

The defendant pleaded not guilty to the charge and elected summary trial.

Olusegun then announced to the court that the Directorate of Public Prosecutions had already issued a legal advice on the matter.

The magistrate demanded a copy of the advice and skimmed through it.

The defence counsel, Abayomi Bamidele, prayed the court to admit him to bail in “liberal and lenient” terms.

He said, “Although we sympathise with the family of the deceased, we want the court to know that he (Adeleye) had stayed for more than one year in the custody of the State Department of Criminal Investigation.”

The magistrate, Fowowe-Erusiafe, admitted him to bail.

She said, “The defendant is hereby admitted to bail in the sum of N200,000 with two responsible sureties in like sum. One of the sureties must be a blood relation of the defendant. The sureties must be resident in Lagos, gainfully employed and with evidence of tax payment. They must also show affidavit of means. The addresses of the sureties should be verified by the police and the defence counsel must swear to an affidavit that he (Adeleye) will be present when the case is taken to a high court.”

The matter was adjourned till January 28, 2016, for report of arraignment at the high court.