NEWS Cop held over murder

The policeman who allegedly shot dead the mother of Nigerian teenage tennis star, Angel Macleod, at a hotel in Lagos on Tuesday, has been arrested.

The policeman, who was reportedly one of the security men on guard at the hotel where the deceased and her daughter lodged, was arrested at the hotel premises on the orders of the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni.

The alleged killer-cop is presently being detained at the Homicide section of the State Criminal Investigations Department (SCID), Panti Street, Yaba.

The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Joe Offor, who confirmed the arrest, said the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Solomon Arase was particularly interested in the matter as it was an alleged case of extra-judicial killing which the police hierarchy had been preaching against.

Offor, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), said the IGP has ordered detailed investigation into the killing.

“The policeman was attached to Mounted Troop and not in the Mobile as alleged. He has been arrested on the orders of the IGP, who also directed a thorough investigation of the case.

The command has zero tolerance for extra-judicial killing involving any of its policemen. A trial has begun and if found guilty, he would be dismissed and tried in a court of law,” Offor said.

He further stated that the policeman was not supposed to be on guard duty at the time of the incident.

“Investigation would reveal what really transpired and if the policeman was actually on guard duty,” he said.

It was gathered that the policeman had engaged the deceased in an altercation at the premises of the hotel, before shooting her.

Angel, 14, who was visibly shocked by the shooting of her mother, has reportedly been moved from the hotel to a relative’s house, also in Lagos.

She is the leading Nigerian junior tennis player in her category, winning all trophies that had been up for grabs in the country in the past few years.