One Yemi Ajayi, 32, has been confirmed dead after some men of the Oyo State Police Command, attached to the Testing Ground Police Division, allegedly fired a shot at his direction in a car at the Iwo-Road Interchange, Ibadan, on Thursday.
Oyo Reporters learnt that the policemen who were in a Nissan Micra taxi cab, stopped Ajayi and his cousin, Kayode Atanda, who were on board a Toyota Camry car.
The men were reportedly stopped on their way from work and were later dragged out of the car with the driver.
A source, who did not disclose his identity, said before the driver opened the door of the car, the police shot the driver in his arm.
He added that the bullet hit the deceased who sat beside the driver in the stomach, adding, “I was there when the incident happened.
“He was about to open the car door when the drunken police office shot him. All the three police officers were drunk. I think government needs to put an end to the killings.”
An elder brother to the victim, Sola, said the deceased was the breadwinner of the family, adding, “The death of Yemi had created a vacuum in the family, especially in the life of our aged mother.”
He said when the family heard about the incident, they went to the Testing Ground Police Station to confirm the situation but they only saw their vehicle which was already parked at the station.
“It was only Kayode Atanda, our cousin who was rushed to the University Teaching Hospital, Ibadan for treatment that we met at the hospital. I pray the arm is not eventually amputated,” Sola said.
He, however, claimed that the whereabouts of the remains of his brother had yet to be confirmed by the police while Kayode was abandoned at the UCH with bullet wound.
A sources said that the police who committed the crime had been arrested and detained at the Iyagaku Area Command.
The deceased, who was said to have just won a contract to supply plank for renovation of some school buildings in Oyo State, had a pregnant wife.
The Police Public Relations Officer, Oyo State Command, Olugbenga Fadeyi, who confirmed the incident, said the command had begun investigation into the matter.
“A team of Anti Crime Police, who were on routine patrol at Iwo Road Interchange on July 9, at about 12:15pm stopped a Toyota Camry car which was alleged to have refused to stop.
“In the process, one of the Policemen fired a shot which hit one Adeyemi (male) in the stomach and was rushed to Police Hospital, Agodi, Ibadan for treatment but was later confirmed dead by the medical personnel. Investigation had commenced into the incident, please,” the PPRO said.
