Lagos police accused of killing 'Okadaman', buries him in shallow grave

The family of a commercial motorcyclist, popularly called 'Okada Man', Aondona Tavershima, who was murdered some few weeks ago and buried in a shallow grave, has accused some policemen attached to Maroko Police Station, Lagos State, of being the killers of the 24-year-old, and hurriedly burying him at Lekki Beach, so as to wipe out any trace.

The basis of the allegation by the family, according to Aondona’s elder sister, Linda, is that there were witnesses to the murder of the young man by the police officers as well as attempts by the police to bribe the family with the sum of N10 million.

According to Linda, the eyewitnesses confirmed that the victim had refused to stop when he was accosted by the policemen who were said to be on patrol at about 11am on the fateful day, on 11 November, 2014.

In a bid to stop him, the police opened fire on him, and that even when he fell down, the policemen still pumped bullets into his body till he died on the spot.

A fellow motorcyclist who saw what happened, said:

"On realizing that he was dead, the policemen picked his corpse and put it behind their patrol vehicle, a Toyota Hilux Van, and covered it with tyres. They drove to the beach and buried him. We were the ones who alerted the family that their brother had been killed and buried."

Linda narrated her family's:

"I knew that he left for Lekki with his friend and when he did not come back, I assumed that he had gone to spend time with his friends. When I was told that my brother was killed, my people visited the scene and saw the grave. We later discovered that the policemen were from Maroko police station and we went to lodge a complaint.

They promised to invite SCID Panti to exhume the body, as it was not their job. At night, they came and exhumed the body and kept it in a mortuary.

The DPO later called me and requested that they would pay us N10 million to end the matter. They said we should go home and think about it and get back to them."

An in-law to the late young man, Dominic David, claimed that he was told that policemen were trying to arrest Aondona and he refused to stop.

"They opened fire on him and shot him. And even when he fell down, they still continued to shoot. Initially, they wanted to abandon the corpse, but the owner of the house near where he was killed insisted that they must carry the corpse away.

They took his body to Lekki beach and buried him in a grave and covered the burial site with leaves and old carton.

Unfortunately, some of the people who witnessed the crime knew us very well and alerted us. They promised that Panti was going to investigate the matter but up till date, they have not done anything about it."

The Lagos State Police Command Public Relations Officer, DSP Kenneth Nwosu, confirmed the incidence and said that the state Commissioner of Police, Kayode Aderanti, ordered for the immediate arrest of the suspected policemen who were alleged to have participated in the killing.

"Five policemen are currently being detained, while the State Criminal Investigation Department, Panti, has since commenced an investigation. If found guilty, the officers will be made to face the wrath of the law."