Police arrest killers of CSP  Abonde in Ajao Estate

25 Sep Police arrest killers of CSP  Abonde in Ajao Estate

The Lagos State Police Command said it has arrested some commercial motorcycle riders who killed a Chief Superintendent of Police, Kazeem Abonde, in the Ajao Estate area of the metropolis.

The State Police Command confirmed this development in a statement on Thursday by its spokesman, Adekunle Ajisebutu.

According to sources, Abonde, a Lawyer, was killed nine months to his retirement, just as he had started planning his pull-out ceremony.

The CSP, attached to B Ops in the Police Command Headquarters, Ikeja, was among those drafted to the police task force in Alausa to ensure that commercial motorcycles kept to restricted routes at the Ajao Estate area of the state on Thursday.

However the motorcycle riders turned violent.

The police team, sensing danger as the motorcycle riders numbers increased, scattered, fleeing in different directions.

While others escaped, mother luck seemed not to be too happy with Abonde.

The motley motorcycle riders, pounced on him and killed him.

A police source said: “They collected his service pistol, shot him and they used machetes to attack him.

“Till now, we’ve not recovered the pistol.

“He was just a Constable when he started his Law programme.

“He had already began planning how to set up his chamber and had picked a name as part of his retirement plan when he was killed.

“Soon, people will lie that the policemen went to extort motorcycle riders.”

Ajisebutu, describing Abonde as one of the Command’s finest officers, said he was killed during a raid on criminal hideouts in Ajao Estate.

He said: “The incident happened when tactical teams of the Command comprising men drawn from RRS, Taskforce, Ajao Estate Division and other divisions were carrying out raid of identified flashpoints and enforcing the ban on use of motorcycles in restricted areas in the Estate and similar places in the State.

“The exercise was a routine proactive approach aimed at curtailing activities of armed robbers and other criminal elements in the State.

“Similar exercises were carried out in the past in other parts of the state which have resulted in reduction in crimes in the areas.

“After the successful operations which led to the arrest of some of the suspects, other criminal elements and hoodlums in their large number laid siege to the exit of the Estate and attacked the policemen with guns, cutlasses and other dangerous weapons.

“Unfortunately, during the fatal attack, CSP Kazeem Sumonu Abonde attached to the Operations Department of the Command was brutally killed by the hoodlums.

“The DPO Ajao Estate, CSP Abdullahi Malla and other Police officers equally sustained varying degrees of injuries.

“The corpse of the deceased officer has been deposited at the Yaba Mainland Hospital for autopsy.”

The image maker further noted that the state’s Commissioner of Police, Hakeem Odumosu, while condemning the attack on the policemen who were carrying out legitimate duty at the time, has directed discreet investigation into the incident should be carried out immediately.

This was even as Odumosu was said to have vowed to ensure that all suspects responsible for the dastardly act will be brought to book.

The Commissioner of Police said this dastardly incident will not dampen the morale of the Command or discourage it from carrying out its statutory duties of protecting lives and property in the state.