Police Name Two Officers Responsible For Kolade Johnson’s Death.

The Nigeria Police Force (NPF) has named the two officers who were responsible for the fatal shooting of one Kolade Johnson in Lagos State.

Inspector Ogunyemi Olalekan and Sergeant Godwin Orji have been implicated in the fatal shooting of Kolade Johnson .

Johnson was killed when a team from the Gbagada division of the Lagos Command’s Special Anti Cultism Squad (SACS) attempted to arrest another man because of his dreadlocks in the Mangoro area of Lagos State on Sunday, March 31, 2019.

A statement released by the Force on Tuesday, April 2 has identified the officers as Inspector Ogunyemi Olalekan and Sergeant Godwin Orji.

The statement noted that both men have been subjected to internal disciplinary procedures. A previous statement on Monday, April 1 noted that they may be prosecuted in conventional court if implicated by investigation.

Johnson’s friend, Dennis Ikpoba, told Premium Times that people had gathered around the officers while they attempted to arrest one Ismail Folorunsho who appeared to have been unfairly targeted by the law enforcement officers who arrived the scene in an unpainted Danfo bus.

Kolade Johnson was allegedly killed by men of the Special Anti Cultism Squad (SACS) of the Lagos State Police Command [Facebook/Styles Kolade Johnson] Kolade Johnson was allegedly killed by men of the Special Anti Cultism Squad (SACS) of the Lagos State Police Command [Facebook/Styles Kolade Johnson]

According to another witness who spoke to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Johnson was one of the people who gathered to assure the officers of Folorunsho’s innocence when they shot to disperse the crowd.

“In an attempt to disperse the crowd, a first shot was fired to the ground. Seeing this, I and the others quickly turned back to avoid trouble, but because Kunle was probably the last person in the crowd, he was shot point blank from behind.

“He didn’t even know he was shot till we had trekked some few metres before we all saw he was bleeding, he died on his way to the hospital at Ikeja,” the witness said.

He was later pronounced dead at the hospital shortly afterwards as the officers fled the scene for fear of being lynched by a mob which soon gathered and blocked the roads around the area.

SACS has grown notorious for indiscriminate raids and arrests in Nigeria’s economic capital as officers target mostly young people they suspect of wrongdoing without any concrete evidence, including their manner of dressing and hairstyle.

Johnson’s unfortunate killing on Sunday has led to a resurgence of the outrage against the Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad (FSARS) who, although not responsible for the recent killing, has become the face of police brutality and impunity in the country due to past conducts.

Many Nigerians have taken to social media to air their displeasure with Johnson’s killing and called for the scrapping of FSARS, as well as the implementation of meaningful police reform to curb brutality unleashed on helpless citizens.

One of the biggest campaigners for police reform in the country, Segun Awosanya, took to his Twitter account (segalink) on Sunday to call on legislators to urgently pass the police reform bill for assent to prevent the death of more Nigerians.

“We will implore the @SPNigeria @NGRSenate to prioritize the passing of the #NewPoliceActBill for the assent of the President. We can’t continue to watch our young die while we pursue the cure to symptoms. We need this urgently. #ReformPoliceNG,” he posted.

In his reaction to the tragedy, Senate President Bukola Saraki revealed on Monday that a report on the Police Reform Bill will be laid before the upper legislative chamber on Tuesday, April 9.