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Family of man killed by LASTMA cries for justice

The family of the late Lagos bus conductor who was pushed to his death by officials of LASTMA are crying out loud that the police is trying to sweep the case under the carpet.

If ghosts exist, then the ghost of the late 36-year-old Lagos bus conductor, Ikeckukwu Abasirim, allegedly murdered by men of the Lagos State Traffic Management Agency, LASTMA, along the Oshodi-Apapa Expressway on 27 October, 2014, is not resting at ease as his family are still crying out at the slow pace of the police investigation into the matter.

The young man who left behind a wife and four children, as well as an aged father, was allegedly dragged down from a moving bus by the officials because he refused to give them a bribe and he was crushed to death by another vehicle.

Though Pulse.ng had earlier reported that the erring officers which included men of the Lagos Police Command and the LASTMA officials, were arrested and the case transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department, Panti, Yaba, Lagos, the family alleged that investigation into the matter was rather too slow and was being done in such a way to distort the facts of the case.

The lawyer representing the family, Kennedy Osunwa, while speaking on behalf of the family, said the widow and children of the late Ikechukwu have been denied justice and they are suffering greatly from the murder of their breadwinner, just as the slow pace of the investigation is not giving them any succour.

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Osunwa is of the view that the police could reduce the case to a hit-and-run incident because they are yet to recover the vehicle that crushed Ikechukwu.

"We are not happy with the pace of investigation into the matter. This is a serious matter because an innocent life was lost. I have written to the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of the SCID to obtain a copy of the police investigation report into the matter, but I have yet to get a reply.

Up till now, the police have not recovered the vehicle that killed the deceased. We fear that if the vehicle is not recovered, the police might reduce the case to a mere hit-and-run incident, whereas the situation is far from it. The deceased was killed by officers on duty and they have been arrested.

With the slow pace of investigation, there is the tendency to distort the facts of the case to water down the incident, which in actual fact borders on executive impunity and recklessness."

The widow of the late Abasirim, Ini, had earlier cried out at the difficult life she and her children are facing and the bleak future that stares them in the face since the incident. She had also lamented the situation where her kids were forced out of school.

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However, the Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Kenneth Nwosu, reiterated that the police has no intention of sweeping the case under the carpet especially with a human life involved.

"Because of the innocent human life involved, there is the need to do a thorough job. We want to assure the family of the deceased and the public at large that justice will be done on the case."

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