Police: Viral article alleging cover-up in probe of David Imoh’s murder is mischievous

The Lagos police command has denied that arrested suspects were paid N100,000 each to admit to the murder of David Imoh, a sound engineer.

Benjamin Hundeyin, Lagos police spokesperson, issued the denial in a statement on Monday.

On May 12, Imoh was beaten and set ablaze by a mob suspected to be commercial motorcyclists near Beer Barn, a leisure facility in the Lekki axis of Lagos.

The police had subsequently arrested four suspects over the lynching of the sound engineer.

Days after the incident, the Lagos state government announced a ban on motorcycle operations in six LGAs.

THE VIRAL ARTICLE

Over the past few days, an article purportedly written by one Adio Oluwole Bashir, who identified himself as an official of the Department of State Services (DSS), went viral on social media, especially on WhatsApp.

The writer alleged that he was the team leader of the security operatives who arrested 11 suspects, who are mostly northerners, in connection with Imoh’s murder.

According to the writer, after the 11 suspects were handed over to the police, they were allegedly replaced with six suspects, who are southerners.

The writer also claimed that the suspects paraded by the Lagos police were given N100,000 each to confess to the murder.

‘DSS OFFICIAL IN VIRAL ARTICLE NOT KNOWN BY SECRET SERVICE’

Reacting to the claims, Hundeyin said the Lagos police command has confirmed that the purported DSS officer named in the article was unknown to the secret service.

The police spokesperson said the arrest of the suspects was made by the Maroko police division and not by operatives of the DSS.

Hundeyin said the allegations in the article were “ridiculous, frivolous and laughable”.

“The attention of the Lagos state police command has been drawn to a write-up making the rounds on social media by a faceless DSS officer, claiming a cover-up by the police in the unfortunate lynching of David Imoh on May 12, 2022,” the statement reads.

“The command wishes to debunk this write-up as nothing but a cunningly-crafted work of fiction ill-intended by some unpatriotic persons and warmongers to cause disaffection, and possibly ethnic war, amongst Nigerians.

“The Lagos State Police Command again confirms that the Divisional Police Officer, Maroko Division arrived at the active crime scene, promptly arrested four suspects and rescued the other two persons under attack. The numerous observers of the arrests, some of whom made videos, can attest to this.

“It is therefore ridiculous, frivolous and laughable that the suspects were allegedly paid a miserly One Hundred Thousand Naira each to admit and take the fall for murder.

“Further investigation by the State Criminal Investigation Department led to the arrest of two other suspects. All six suspects were paraded before the press by the Commissioner of Police, Lagos State Command, CP Abiodun Alabi, fdc, mnim, psc on May 20, 2022. A seventh suspect, Usman Abubakar, aged 22 (not the mastermind), who literally poured petrol on the victim, was eventually arrested the next day. This brings the total number of arrested suspects to seven.

“Furthermore, not only has the State Director of DSS in Lagos state confirmed to the Lagos state commissioner of police that the alleged officer was unknown to them, he equally confirmed that the DSS neither arrested nor handed over any suspect to the police.”