3 charged with robbing man at gun-point How policemen withdrew N.3m from deceased suspect’s account
‘My mum was shot dead by cops in Lagos over N100’
There seems to be no end to the ongoing investigation into the death of a car dealer in police custody. Fresh facts revealed that the four policemen who arrested him withdrew a total sum of N330, 000 from his account.
The money was said to have been withdrawn on separate occasions via automated teller machine (ATM) in Port Harcourt, Rivers State in May.
The deceased, Mr Benson Obode, 26, who hailed from Ubierumu Oke, Idensaba, Uromi, in Esan North East Local Government Area of Edo State, was allegedly tortured to death by a team of police operatives from the Special AntiRobbery Squad (SARS), Lagos Command.
He was said to have been arrested in Benin, Edo State on May 21, 2015 and was hung from a tree with his hands tied from behind, and about four blocks placed on his back.
He eventually died few hours after his arrest by the policemen.
Those said to have been involved in the brutal murder of Benson were named as Corporals Adeleke Adedeji, Abena John, Henry Shobowale and Oniyo Musa.
They were said to have gone to Benin to arrest a suspected receiver of stolen cars. On arrival the team reportedly arrested Benson’s landlord on the ground that they wanted to lure him out from his hideout.
The landlord, Monday Omosigho, said he actually witnessed the torture of the deceased to death.
He added that he was only allowed to go on bail after he was forced to part with the sum of N100,000, failure of which he would be made an accomplice in the case they were investigating.
He told Daily Trust that he was forced to Tears flowed freely from the eyes of a 12-year-old girl, Mary Ekpo, as she narrates how a police corporal shot her mum dead at Isheri-Oshun area of Lagos.
The suspect, police corporal, Aremu Museliu, was last Friday arraigned put a call through to Benson, who promptly arrived at the Eso State Police Command in a milk colour Toyota Highlander.
Though the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Solomon Arase, has ordered detailed investigations into the alleged killing, the family of the deceased said the suspect cover up on the part of those saddled with that responsibility.
Investigations revealed that, before his death, the police team collected the deceased First Bank and Eco Bank ATM pin codes and allegedly withdrew the sum of N330,000 in four days from the deceased account in Port Harcourt, Rivers State leaving a balance of N1,754.15.
The policemen were also said to have made away with the deceased I.D card, wallet and an unregistered 306 Peugeot car (ash colour) given to him by a friend to sell.
A statement obtained by the family from one of the banks in Lagos, revealed that on May 23, 2015, an ATM transfer of N30,000 was made at the First Bank in Port Harcourt, Artillery branch about 11:04 pm to one Fasasi Adesina Kazeem with Account Number: 0011009936 with Guaranty Trust Bank.
This transaction was said to have occurred two days after Benson was killed in Benin City. before an Ebute-Metta Chief Magistrate.
He was arraigned on two count charges of murder of Idongieset Ekpo and causing grievous body harm to her husband, Godwin Ekpo. He has since been remanded in prison custody.
However, with tears and shrinking shoulders, Corporal Museliu said he never meant to kill anyone; rather he shot at the tricyclist because he refused to stop.
12 year-old Mary Ekpo who witnessed the brutal murder of her mum told Daily Trust that the policemen who had allegedly mounted an illegal check-point along the Isneri-Oshun road had ordered her father to
Investigations also revealed that three other transactions were made on May 24, 2015.
On the said day, three withdrawals were made between 7:45pm and 7:50pm totaling N100,000. Another transaction of N100,000 was also discovered to have been made on May 25, 2015, with ATM at the FCMB branch, 642 Ikwere Road, Rumuokoro,
Port stop and complying with the directive her father stopped.
She said, “The policeman asked my daddy to stop and he stopped. We were coming from church.
“My daddy and my mummy came down. The policeman shot his gun and the bullet hit my mummy. My mum Harcourt.
The said withdrawal was made five times during which N20,000 each was collected.
Meanwhile, the last withdrawal was discovered to have been executed with an ATM on May 26, 2015 at Rumuokoro, Port Harcourt of N100,000 done five times of N20,000 each.
ACloseCircuitCamerafootageobtained from one of the ATM from the First Bank where the first ATM cash transfer was made revealed that one of the policemen allegedly carried out the transaction.
All the money said to have been withdrawn from Benson’s account was allegedly transferred to the account of Mr. Fasasi.
Though, the said Fasasi denied knowing the identities of those who did the said transfer to his account, but was accused of not reporting the illegal transaction to neither the bank nor the police.
Investigations also showed series of SMS alert charges made on Fasasi’s account for the illegal transfer.
The investigations showed that on May 30, 2015, his bank deducted the sum of N84.00 from his account being SMS alert charges between 23 April and 22 May, 2015.
However, his Eco Bank account was intact as there was only N831. 25 balance as at May 2015.
Meanwhile, the Lagos State Police Command insists that the suspect was killed by a mob in Benin.
It said that the policemen only rescued the deceased from the mob, but that he died before he could be taken
to the hospital. was carrying my younger brother, Elijah, 11 months old, when the policeman shot at my mother.
“The baby fell from my mummy’s hand as she also fell on the ground. Immediately, there was blood all over my mum.
“My daddy started to cry. Abraham and my sister were also crying. I ran and held one of the policemen and started shouting you have killed my mummy. Come and wake her up.
“Later they carried all of us into a police van and took us to the hospital. I don’t like policemen. They killed my mummy.”
Meanwhile, the suspect, who was apologetic, said he never meant to kill