Why I dumped thebody of my son atKetu Police station

THE father of nine-
year-old,
Oluwatimilehin Ebun,
a Basic 3 student of
Royal Scholars
International school, Ikorodu, Lagos, who
was allegedly killed
by stray Police bullet
has given reasons why
he dumped the body
of his son at Ketu Police station. Recounting the
moments he shared
last with his son
before his untimely
demise, Mr. Olusegun
Ebun, Managing Director of a Finance
firm in Lagos
lamented that the
incident which
occured June 13, 2013
at about 9pm around Ketu/Mile 12  area of
Lagos, will remain
indelible in his mind. The bereaved 48-year-
old father of three
could not hold back
tears as he narrated
how the incident
happened. “it was on Thursday, the 13th of
June 2013, I went with
my wife, Olufunke
Ebun, my son
Timilehin, and his
sister to Murtala Muhammed
International
Airport, Ikeja in our
Parthfinder SUV to
pick up my eldest son,
Jide who arrived from Canada where
he is studying, for a
vacation here with the
family. “My wife was seated
with me at the front,
on the passenger’s
seat,  my son whom we
went to pick was
seated right behind me at the back, my
daughter Damilola,
who is my second
child was seated at the
back behind my wife,
and my last son Timilehin Ebun, was
seated at the middle;
that is usually the
family’s seating
position when ever we
go out in the SUV It was a smooth ride
on our way back
until we got to Ketu/
Mile 12 area at about
9pm, when we
encountered a little hold-up due to the
heavy traffic. I noticed
a police patrol van at
the other side (coming
from Ikorodu) of the
road, it was as if there was a little
unrest, but I felt it was
nothing much to
worry about. “The next thing I
heard was a gun shot,
the bullet went right
through my wind
screen, pierced
through my wife’s arm pit and hit my
last son, Timilehin
seated in the middle
of  the back seat in his
right eye. Middle of the back
seat Because everywhere
was dark, I couldn’t
see what had happened
until I asked my elder
son to turn on the
inner light, that was when I saw my son in
a pool of blood. I was
totally confused, We
were on the
expressway, but I
managed to get out of the car, opened the
passenger door,
carried out the body
of my son, screaming
‘the police has killed
my son, somebody help me’… I noticed that
immediately the shot was fired, the
police van took off.

Some hoodlums in the
area who were
attracted to the scene
by my shouts quickly organized them selves
and tried to stop the
van but they managed
to escape and drove
away, straight to
their office at Ketu police division.   As
soon as they entered
the compound, they
locked the gate. The
crowd pursued the
van to the gate, but they were not allowed
inside. “As all these were
going on, I begged one
of the sympathizers to
help convey my wife
and other two
children to the station in the SUV,
while I carried the
body of my son to a
nearby clinic. I knew
he died on the spot,
but I carried him to the hospital with the
hope that somehow,
something could be
done to bring him
back. Unfortunately,
on getting to the clinic, he was
confirmed dead on
arrival. I then took
him to the police
station. The whole
police station was deserted, not a single
police man was at the
station, hence I laid
the boy on the
counter. “For hours, no officer
came out to ascertain
what the matter was.
We wanted to
document the whole
thing but they did not allow us. I was
shouting in anger
while my wife was
crying bitterly,
rolling on the floor.
This went on until some one from the
crowd that followed
us into the station
made a call. Consequently, an
officer in mufti
reluctantly came out,
armed with a
sophisticated gun and
accompanied by two military men as
guards. He did not
appear sober at all. He
told me if I was sure
it was his men that
killed my son, that there was an armed
robbery incident
earlier that evening
at Iyana-Ipaja, and
two police men were
killed;  that perhaps, the robbers must have
made away with the
police van and it
might be the robbers
that actually shot my
son; otherwise can I identify the men that
shot my son? I asked  him, if he
meant to tell us that
robbers now patrol
around in police van?
After all, the van
entered the police premises and is
currently parked in
the compound.  My
request to write a
statement was
rebuffed, but my wife was eventually made
to write one. “In anger, especially
owing to the ‘I don’t
care manner’ the case
was handled, I left my
son’s body there at the
counter, I told them, since they had killed
him, they can as well
keep his body. I took
what was left of my
family and went
home in another car. In the process, I lost
my phone and some
money I left in the
SUV. “When they saw I was
serious about leaving
my son’s corpse with
them at the station,
the police later
organized and took his remains to the
Ikeja general hospital
mortuary.  One of my
brothers who came to
meet us at the station
went with them.   I also left the SUV
there, even though it
was a car I cherished
so much, I cannot
bring myself to drive
it again, not after what happened. The
SUV should still be
parked at the station. “My eldest son who
arrived the country
after much
persuasion, to spend
some quality time
with his family has not been himself since
that incident. He has
been in his room,
refusing to come out. I
pray this event does
not make him want to leave the country for
good.   Also my wife
was hospitalized that
Thursday, due to the
trauma, she was
discharged on Saturday the 15th of
June 2013.” Investment specialist When asked what
kind of child his son
was, the Ososa, Ogun
state born Finance
and Investment
specialist exclaimed, “Haa! Timilehin, even
though he was nine
years old, had the
brain of a 17-year-
old.   In this house, I
don’t know how to operate any of the
electronic gadgets we
have, he handled
everything. He was a
very promising child
who showed great interest in
engineering. He read a lot,  he
cleaned the house and
played the piano very
well. Earlier that
evening,  he had
washed the Honda car parked outside,
thinking we were
going to the Airport
in it, it was when I got
back that I told him
we will go in the SUV instead, because the
Honda will be too
small for the whole
family.” In pain the bereaved
father added “I was
told by an eye witness
there at Ketu, where
my son was killed,
that the cause of the mis- fire was that the
police wanted to
extort N200 from a
danfo driver who
tried to run away
from them. How can a trained police man
use live bullets in
handling cases like
that? The way they handle
gun is very crude.
These senseless
killings by the police
must stop. I think the
reason this has been going on is because
each time the police
killed some one,
nothing comes out of
it. This has given them
the courage to continue killing. No police man has
ever been executed
publicly for killing
an innocent citizen.
All these cannot bring
back my son, but I want justice done in
this particular case, I
want the police man
who fired the shot
that killed my son
brought to book, he has caused me so much
pain.” Crime Alert gathered
that the Assistant
Commissioner of
Police in charge of
the CID, with the Area
Commander Ogudu Police station,the DPO
of Ketu Police station
and the Lagos state
Police PRO Ngozi
Braide payed a
condolence visit to the Ikorodu home of the
Ebuns on Monday,
June 17, 2013. “they
came to console us
and assured us that
justice will be done concerning this case”
Mr Olusegun Ebun
said.

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Posted: at 19-06-2013 06:31 AM (10 years ago) | Gistmaniac

OMG! This is really sad. My condolences to the Ebun family. These naija police are heartless. 

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Posted: at 19-06-2013 07:39 AM (10 years ago) | Gistmaniac

So heartless set of people-Nigerian police!!

Posted: at 19-06-2013 10:37 AM (10 years ago) | Upcoming