Alleged killers of LASTMA commander arrested

The suspects, according the command in a press statement, are said to be commercial motorcycle riders who are suspected to have participated in the killing of Bakare who was lynched by an angry mob on Thursday, December 15, 2016, along the Liverpool Road in the Apapa area of the state when the official vehicle of the team he led, knocked down the conductor, killing him instantly.

The suspects whose names were given as Abubakar Ibrahim, 25, and Usman Ahmad, 23, were paraded at the state police command headquarters in Ikeja on Thursday, January 12, 2017.

ALSO READ: “Eye For Eye: Irate mob lynch LASTMA official after their vehicle ran over conductor”

Their arrest, according to the police, was made possible after a video which revealed the dastardly act went viral with the State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Adeniji Kazeem, petitioning the state police command to fish out the perpetrators.

The Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni, while parading the two suspects, said the police were on the trail of others involved in the killing.

“Having analyzed the video very well, two suspects who have been identified positively, having matched the recording with their faces, have been apprehended.

We will use them to get to others that took part in the gory act. We will do everything that needs to be done in terms of subjecting the report to forensic interpretation to ensure that innocent people are not made to suffer.”

But while answering questions from journalists, the two suspects denied participating in the killing of Bakare, claiming a frame up by the police.

Ibrahim, an indigene of Adamawa State, said:

“I was arrested in a school in Apapa where I was relaxing because my motorcycle was faulty that day.

Some policemen had arrested an okada (motorcycle) rider for an offense. Other riders tried to collect the motorcycle from the policemen.

Initially, I was accused of being among those who stoned the policemen. Later, they said I was involved in the killing of the LASTMA officer.

But I didn’t go to where the officer was killed that day. I have paid N20,000 to secure my bail and my motorcycle is with the police.”

The other suspect, Ahmad, an indigene of Borno State, said he had taken a man injured in an accident on Liverpool Bridge to a hospital in the Apapa area when he was arrested.

“The police picked me at the hospital with my motorcycle and said I was among those who stoned the LASTMA officer. They collected the N9,500 on me and seized my motorcycle,” he added.

ALSO READ: “LASTMA: Traffic Officials Push Bus Conductor To His Death For Refusing To Give Bribe”

However, the police have insisted they were involved in the killing of the LASTMA commander and would soon be charged to court after investigations into the matter are concluded.